Carlton Lassiter Gets Engaged
by pineapple-dalek
Summary: The SBPD has been asked to go undercover to figure out why people are disappearing. And Carlton is all for it. Except, he needs one thing: a wife; or at least a fiance. When Beth reluctantly agrees, will they be able to find the person responsible? Or will Carlton become the next victim? And by the end of it all, will they still be just friends? Story 3 of the Miss March Series
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! So here it is, the long anticipated 3rd story in my Miss March Adventures series. I've been meaning to start posting this for awhile but my other psych story has taken longer than expected and still isn't done yet :(

So, notes:

It would help a lot if you have read the other Miss March Adventure stories _CL Meets a New Friend _and _CL Goes on Vacation. _Also spoilers for _Psych_ ep 5x16 _Yang 3 in 2D. _This story takes place 6 months after that episode. So the first story was in January, the second in March and now this one is July, probably mid-July, I haven't decided yet.

This should stay at a T rating for violence(?) and language. I could do this at a K+ rating, but a T rating gives me a bit more freedom, especially with the "strong" language and whumpage. The genre will probably change at some point.

Ummm, what else... I'll post on Thursday nights (US 10pm Eastern) and will try to keep my author's notes ramblings to a minimum, although I haven't had much luck on that. I might post 2 chapters at a time, depending on how fast I get them typed up and how they relate to each other.

**Disclaimer: **I am not affiliated with _Psych_ or anything else one might recognize. I only own my original characters and plot idea. I am not an "expert" in anything, especially police work or the medical field so some things I just made up or picked because they fit.

I know I'm probably missing stuff, but oh well. Please feel free to leave questions, comments, reviews, funny reactions, whatever. They usually brighten up my day (well, most of them anyways.)

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 1

Carlton Lassiter was in records, putting a file away, when he noticed a case file from 6 months ago. Well, a case they were able to finally close 6 months ago. The Yin Yang case caused a lot of trouble, especially for key members of the Santa Barbara Police Department. Carlton's own partner, Juliet O'Hara, was kidnapped and used as bait at one point and came very close to death. Luckily, they had one (fake) psychic detective, Shawn Spencer, who was able to figure out the clues each time and save countless lives. Unfortunately, Shawn and his partner, Burton Guster, known as Gus, were also taken hostage in the last act of this case. They were almost killed if it wasn't for dumb luck, something that Shawn seemed to have a lot of.

Thinking back on it, Carlton guessed that he should be somewhat grateful for that case. If he wasn't so worried about how his partner was handling things, he wouldn't have gone to check on her, and wouldn't have seen Shawn and Juliet kissing. That, added with all the other stress from the past few days, wouldn't have found him going to the local cop bar to drink, after a few hours at the shooting range did nothing to calm his nerves. Then he might not have met a complete stranger at said bar who managed to wiggle her way into his life and turn it upside down.

Elizabeth March, who goes by Beth, managed to not only get him to socialize with his coworkers more, including the annoying (fake) psychic, but also to loosen up. He found himself laughing, smiling and just plain old relaxing more than before. Through the many ups and downs of their short 6 month friendship, including dealing with a determined and slightly psychotic ex-boyfriend, several hospital visits and helping her move from Ohio to Santa Barbara, they became very close friends.

Closing the file cabinet, Carlton made his way back up to the bullpen. The last month had been pretty quiet at the station, not just because of the low crime rate, probably an effect of the high temperatures, but also because Beth and Shawn had left 3 weeks ago for a cross-country trip on their motorcycles to visit Beth's sister, who is due to deliver her second kid any day now, and sign the papers to close the deal on her house. Beth tried to convince him to come with them, but Carlton did not want to spend an entire month with Shawn and he absolutely refused to get on a motorcycle, especially after Beth tried to take him to the beach on her motorcycle. After finally being cleared for it after a car accident a few months prior, they were almost at the beach when a kid darted out in front of them and Beth swerved to avoid him. Luckily, they weren't going very fast since they were approaching a stop sign and both were wearing helmets, so no hospital visit was required; although Carlton was pretty sore for the next few days.

Carlton had not talked to Beth in almost 2 weeks. Since she had lived with him for almost 6 months, her pets joining them 3 1/2 months ago, he had gotten very use to her unique presence. When the road trip had started, Beth would try to call everyday, since someone had to brighten up his day (she said). But then she stopped calling. He got a voicemail last week from her. It was very short and she sounded tired but she reassured him that she was fine and hoped that he wasn't getting too "Lassiterian" with her gone. If it wasn't for the fact that Juliet was still getting calls from Shawn, Carlton might have thought that something had happened, especially since Beth seemed to attract trouble.

Shaking his head, Carlton pulled out his phone and dialed Beth's number. He had tried calling a few times over the last week but it had always gone straight to voicemail. As it went to voicemail again, Carlton noticed that someone was sitting on his desk. He was about to tell them to move it when he recognized the person. "Beth?"

Beth smiled as she turned around to look at him. "Hey Carlton! Are you surprised to see me?"

"I thought you and Spencer weren't getting back until next week."

"Well, a lot of things happened so we decided to come back early. We brought lunch!" She held up a picnic basket as she pushed out his chair for him.

Looking over, Carlton noticed that Shawn and Juliet were laughing as they ate from a similar basket.

When he didn't respond right away, she started fidgeting, "I mean, if you have other plans, I completely understand, you don't always have time for me. I can just go to Henry's since I know that Frisco would be more than happy to see me."

As she started to get up and collect her things, Carlton finally said, "No, it's fine. I'd love to have lunch with you."

Beth smiled and quickly wrapped him in a hug, "Yea! I have so much to tell you!" She pulled away and started to empty the basket. "I wasn't sure what you would want, so you can have either sub. We also stopped at a grocery store and got plenty of fruits, veggies and chips."

Carlton shook his head at Beth's enthusiasm as he grabbed Henry's chair and brought it over for her. Sitting down, he took the turkey sub before asking, "So what happened? I don't hear from you in almost two weeks, except a vague message on my voicemail, and suddenly you come back a week early with food; not that I'm complaining."

"Aw! Are you saying that you missed me?"

"No!" Carlton replied, trying not to blush at the look she was giving him. "I'm just curious."

Beth smiled as she sat down and began on her own lunch. "Well, first let me say that I'm sorry for not calling but my phone broke and I've yet to replace it. About two weeks ago, Shawn and I were just leaving Nashville, checking out some of the local talent there, as well as the Grand Ole Opry, when I got a call from Dan. Amy had gone into premature labor and was freaking out a little. I tried to calm her down as Shawn and I quickly changed course for Cleveland. Just my luck, I dropped my phone when we stopped for lunch and it, unfortunately, did not survive being run over by a kid on his BMX bike. Anyways, by the time we got to the hospital, Amy was fast asleep and her new baby was in the NICU."

"Is it okay?"

"Oh yeah. I mean, she was 3 weeks early, so they kept the baby in the NICU for 5 days, just in case."

"You keep calling her 'the baby,' shouldn't she have a name by now?"

Beth smiled as she patted Carlton's knee. "Right you are detective. Amy wanted to call her Anna, but I told her that naming kids with the same first letter might seem cute, but actually makes it harder to learn names, especially if they want more kids. After going back and forth through the list of names they had picked out, they decided on Margaret Anna Gilbert, after our paternal grandmother and Dan's mom. So her nickname is Mag, same as her initials, or Maggie."

Carlton couldn't help the smirk as he asked, "You thought of that, didn't you?"

"Yep!" Her smile grew wider. "Anyways, Adam was so confused when he first got to see Amy after Maggie was born. He went running up to her and started crying, 'Mommy, mommy! Your stomach! You okay?' It took us almost 15 minutes to calm him down and then he was afraid to touch Maggie once she got home. He stuck to Shawn more than anyone else while we were there, and Shawn actually seemed to enjoy it."

"Really? I don't see Spencer as much of a babysitter, especially when he acts like such a child himself."

"Well, as long as he didn't have to do any of the gross parts, like changing a diaper, Shawn was perfectly content to play with Adam." She laughed.

"If you say so," Carlton commented as he grabbed some of the fruit. "So, if you guys were having such a good time, then why did you leave so soon?"

"Because my parents came back from their cruise. After only one day with them, I wanted to scream, especially when they started questioning Shawn and my friendship." Beth rolled her eyes. "We stuck around for a couple more days before splitting. Since I was so worn out from helping out Amy, we didn't visit any of the sites on the way back. I made Shawn a promise that we will try again over Christmas break."

He shook his head, "You always seem to mess up people's vacations."

"Hey!" Beth swatted his arm. "It's not my fault that Maggie decided to come early! Or that Shawn stuck around instead of continuing the road trip without me like I told him to. I mean, he did check out some of the places within a few hours away, but it was totally his choice!"

"Whatever. At least this means I don't have to take care of your cats anymore."

"Aww! You mean you didn't enjoy having Murphy and Salem all to yourself?"

Carlton snorted, "Salem I didn't mind since he spent most of the time hiding from me. But Murphy, I swear that cat is heavier than an elephant and more stubborn than a mule, especially when he lies on my stomach! I had to keep my bedroom door shut so I could get a full night of sleep. And some days I woke up to find that he had somehow opened the door and was sleeping on me!"

She giggled at that. "That just shows how much he loves you!"

Carlton growled and was about to comment when Police Chief Karen Vick came out of her office. "O'Hara, Lassiter, in my office, please."

Nodding, Carlton turned to Beth. "I'll be right back, don't …"

"Don't wander off without an escort, I know!" Beth smiled as she started packing up the leftover food.

Shaking his head, Carlton quickly followed Juliet into the Chief's office.

Once the door was closed, Karen began. "I got a call yesterday from the San Luis Obispo county sheriff. There have been 3 disappearances in the past month from one of the resorts near Pismo Beach. Since they don't have many officers experienced in undercover work, he asked if I could spare a few."

"I'll do it." Carlton offered right away.

Karen smiled, "I'm glad to hear that but I want both of you to go. Here's what we do know: each of the victims would disappear for about 5 days. When questioned, they couldn't remember anything about when they were gone and the only marks on them were rope burns on their hands and ankles. All of the victims are males in their late 30s, early 40s and were at the resort with a significant other. The significant others were never hurt since the victims disappeared when they were alone."

"So let me get this straight," Juliet asked. "You want Carlton and I to pose as a couple and see if he gets picked off? Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"O'Hara, I can handle myself." Carlton reassured her.

"That's more or less the plan." Karen said. "Unfortunately, both of you have, shall we say, interesting reactions to going undercover. O'Hara, you get too involved with your assignments and Lassiter, you can be a bit obvious. So based off what I have noticed over the last few months, I've picked out different partners to ground yourselves." She sighed. "O'Hara, you and Mr. Spencer will be posing as a newly wed couple on your honeymoon. You will arrive tomorrow morning and scope out the place a little before Carlton arrives the next day."

Carlton frowned, "Wait, so who's my partner? And please don't say Guster."

Karen tried to hide her smile. "No. Unfortunately, I don't think that you can pull off a same sex relationship with anyone, especially not Mr. Guster. Even though I'm a bit hesitant, I believe that Miss March would be a more appropriate fit, don't you think?"

Carlton looked out the office at Beth, who was talking and laughing with Shawn, before asking, "Are you sure? I mean, she's a civilian, wouldn't it be dangerous? And I don't think that she would feel comfortable playing my wife, especially in such a public place. We're just friends."

Karen smiled at his protectiveness. "Carlton, I wasn't thinking marriage. What do you think of an engagement?"


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

20 minutes later, Carlton and Juliet left the office, having finally figured out the details. Juliet and Shawn have a reservation for a week and a half while Carlton and Beth would be there Thursday night until Sunday. The Sheriff's Office had already put a couple officers on staff and the day manger was their contact. Carlton only had 2 days to prep Beth and get her licensed to carry a weapon. Even though the significant others were never hurt, they figured that they'd rather be prepared.

Juliet quickly whisked Shawn off to fill him in on the details and work on their background stories, leaving Carlton alone with Beth.

"Wow, that took longer than expected. I'm guessing it's a big case and that I should let you get started on it." Beth smiled as she grabbed her things.

"No, you don't have to go. In fact, I need you to hang around for a while. Do you have anything else planned for today?"

Beth smiled as she put stuff down. "Not really. I told Henry that I would be by for dinner and to pick up Frisco, but otherwise I'm free."

"Okay, good. Come with me." He gently took her arm and led her downstairs.

"Carlton, what is this about? You look kind of nervous. Oh my god, did something happen? Is somebody dead?" She looked at him with wide eyes.

"What? Oh god no! Sorry. No." He grimaced.

"Then why can't you just tell me?"

"I will, we just need to do something first." Carlton stopped them at the desk for the evidence locker. "Chief Vick called a few minutes ago."

The clerk nodded as he pulled out a metal lock box. "Yes sir. Here are most of them."

Beth gasped as the box was opened and she saw the 40 plus rings of various colors, sizes, and designs lined up. "Carlton, what is going on?"

"You need to pick out an engagement ring."

"Why?" She crossed her arms as she studied at him.

Sighing, Carlton put his hands on her shoulders. "You trust me, right?" She nodded. "Then trust me when I say that everything will be fine, relatively, and that I'll explain in a minute. Just pick a ring."

She glared at him for a few more seconds before nodding and looking back at the rings. Her face softened when she spotted and picked up a simple silver and emerald Claddagh ring. Her smile grew when it fit. "I always wanted one of these but it never felt right to buy one myself."

Carlton shook his head as he signed the form to take it. "You know the correct way to wear that, right?"

"Of course! Right and out is free. Right and in is taken. Left and out, engaged and left and in, married." She smiled as she put it in the offered ring box. "If you don't mind, I would appreciate knowing why I need an engagement ring and who, if anyone, I'm being engaged to."

"Well, the situation is a bit complicated, but you're engaged to me." Carlton blushed as he led them down the hallway towards one of the empty conference rooms.

Beth laughed shakily, "What?!"

"Just, let me explain." Carlton opened a door and ushered her inside. She sat on the table quietly as he started pacing.

"Vick has it in her head that I'm not good at undercover work and need to have someone there to mellow me out or something. Since you've seemed to have done that these past few months, she thought you would be a good choice. You shouldn't be in any danger because if they go after either of us, it will be me; and none of the victim's significant others were touched. Spencer and O'Hara will also be there and we'll put a tracker on your persons as well as myself, just in case."

"Carlton."

Carlton ignored her and kept talking, "But you shouldn't worry because you'll be fine. Vick is even letting me get you licensed to carry a weapon. I mean, you're a pretty good shot, but in the range and under pressure in the field are two totally different things. We should probably go play air soft or paintball."

"Carlton."

"I know a few guys who could probably stage a kidnapping scenario so that you can know how it feels in a real-life situation and…"

"Carlton!" Beth stepped in front of him, causing him to stop. She took a couple deep breaths before saying, "So basically, the plan is to use you as bait and hope that you get kidnapped?"

"Yeah."

"And I'm what? Just suppose to sit back and let that happen?" She asked unbelievingly.

Carlton could see that she was getting upset and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Beth, you have nothing to worry about."

She shrugged off his hand and took a step back. "Nothing to worry about? What happens to the victims, Detective?"

He was a bit thrown off by her tone and the use of his title, but answered, "They disappeared for a few days before coming back with no memory of what happened. None of them seemed to have been hurt in any way."

"And that doesn't scare you?"

"It's part of my job, to keep the public safe." Carlton was flashing back to some of the fights he had with his ex-wife.

"But who's going to keep you safe? Because I sure as hell can't do that!" Beth yelled as she took a couple steps back and turned her back on him.

"You don't have to! You just need to play a part, a simple part. You are not in any kind of danger."

"A simple part?" Beth laughed. "What if you're wrong? What if this person changes things up and goes after me? Or what if they find out that you're a cop and decide to k-kill you instead." Her voice cracked. "What am I suppose to do then?"

Carlton slowly turned her around and saw that she was crying. When she closed her eyes and turned her head away, he gently rubbed her arms and whispered, "Hey, it will be alright."

She shook her head, "You, you don't know that."

"No, I don't. But we are going to do the best we can to make sure that nobody gets hurt. I know the risks of undercover work and I promise that I won't leave you anywhere by yourself or unprotected." When she still refused to look at him, Carlton gently tilted her chin up. "Hey." Once she opened her eyes, he continued, "I can't guarantee that nothing will happen because I can get hurt by just crossing the street. But I will promise to be careful."

She smiled slightly, "And you don't break promises easily."

"No ma'am." Carlton smiled when she laughed before pulling her closer for a hug.

It took a few seconds before she relaxed and wrapped her arms around him. She buried her face into his shirt and mumbled, "I don't know if I can do this, knowing that you could be snatched at any minute."

He nodded as he held her tighter. "You'll do fine. O'Hara will be there in case anything happens as well as a few undercover officers from the local PD." When she didn't reply, Carlton sighed, "If you really don't feel comfortable doing this, then it's fine. I'll tell Vick and we'll find someone else to partner with me."

Beth smirked as she pulled back enough to look at him. "You're going to pretend to be engaged to some random person in the precinct? I would love to see that, Mr. 'bad at dating.' You'll either shoot them or blow your cover within a day, probably both."

"Like I said, it's part of my job. I'll figure something out."

Beth laughed as she stepped back and wiped her cheeks. "No, I'll do it."

"Are you sure?"

"You've been there plenty of times for me. I figure it's the least I could do."

"Hey, this isn't about payback or evening the score. This is a serious situation where anything can happen; you shouldn't agree if you don't think that you can handle it."

"Carlton, I," She took a deep breath and grabbed his hand. "I'm not saying that I'm comfortable with it, but I understand that you need me to help make it more believable so you can succeed. In which case, I don't want a gun."

"What? No, you need to be able to protect yourself, incase anything goes wrong."

She shook her head. "No, it'll just make it too surreal for me. It's supposed to look like a vacation. I know self-defense, you and Henry did a good job of teaching me; but I will not use a real gun and risk accidentally killing someone. I can't live with that knowledge."

Seeing that she was on the verge of tears again, Carlton nodded. "Okay, but I want you to have something. Pocket knife, pepper spray, nunchucks."

She smiled, "Yes to the pepper spray and I should still have my stun gun somewhere, but I think nunchucks is over doing it, just a little."

"Yeah, you're right. I don't think I even trust Spencer with them." Getting a chuckle out of her, Carlton smiled. "Now that we've got that settled, we need to go over some of the details, including our cover story. I figured it'll be easier to use our real first names but…."

"Actually," Beth interrupted. "I've got to go."

"What? You said that you don't have to be anywhere anytime soon."

She smiled nervously, "Yeah, but I need time to digest all this. You can't keep throwing stuff at me and except me to remember it all. Look, we can figure this out tonight. I'll be back at your house around 8ish, is that okay?"

Carlton sighed as he watched her inch towards the door. "Yeah, 8 is fine."

"Good. If you need me sooner, then give me a call. Bye!" Beth said quickly as she left.

It took Carlton a second realize what she said, but once he did, he hurried to the door and called, "You said your phone is broken!" But Beth was long gone. Sighing, he went back upstairs to try and finish some of the reports on his desk.

-


	3. Chapter 3

Hey! So, as I've mentioned before (I think) I am so excited for this story! It's been floating around inside my head for over a year and I think it's going to be my favorite in the series! Well, that is until I get to my Psych/Quantum Leap crossover fic done but that will be awhile since I have to write my Quantum Leap series and that could take years since I can't seem to write short stories...

Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter. It seems kind of...blah compared to other chapters but I think it's still needed. So I should post the next 2 chapters next Thursday.

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 3

Henry was just finishing his lunch when Frisco's head popped up from the couch. For the last few weeks, Henry found it nice to have such a well behaved dog around the house. At first, the dog followed him around everywhere, barking every time the phone rang or someone came to the door; which wasn't very often since Shawn wasn't around. He tried to take Frisco fishing with him, but the dog was so afraid of the water that he huddled between the captain's chair and helm until they got back to land and then tried to book it back to the truck.

He liked staying outside at least. Henry could leave the dog outside for hours and, after making a couple sweeps of the yard, he would just sit on the porch to watch the neighbors and wildlife, occasionally getting up to drink some water. Inside, he seemed content to stay on the couch or the floor in front of the couch, although would venture into the kitchen whenever Henry was making food. The few times that Beth had called, Henry put the phone on speaker and Frisco would get so excited and start barking and whining at her.

"What do you hear, boy?" Henry asked as he got up from the table. Frisco barked in return and started rushing about the house excitedly. "Crazy dog," Henry muttered just as he heard a motorcycle.

Frowning, he looked out the window to find Beth pulling into his driveway. She killed the engine, took off her helmet, and then just sat there, staring unseeingly into the trees. He wasn't expecting her until at least 4 with her car; but after the phone call with Karen the previous evening, he had a feeling about what was wrong. He was just opening the door when Frisco turned up at his side, whining and waging his tail. "Okay, okay. Calm down, dog." Henry laughed as he opened the door wide. Frisco wasted no time in bounding down the steps and across the lawn, nearly knocking Beth and the bike over.

"Whoa! I've missed you too, Frisco." Beth laughed as she petted the dog.

"You're early," Henry commented.

She scoffed. "Hello to you too. If you want, I can leave and come back. But then you'll have to deal with a very sad dog."

"No, it's fine. I'm just wondering how you are going to bring your dog back to Carlton's with a motorcycle."

"Yeah, about that." She bit her lip as she absentmindedly petted the dog. "Can we talk? Or am I interrupting something?"

"I've got all afternoon free."

She grabbed the picnic basket off the back of her bike and followed Henry inside.

"So, what's on your mind?"

"What?"

"What's on your mind?" He grabbed his glass of lemonade and leaned against the table.

"Why do you think anything is wrong?" Beth asked defensively as she pulled some food out of the basket and put it in his refrigerator.

"I didn't say that. But since you mentioned it, I wasn't expecting you for another 3 or 4 hours. Plus you were staring into space a few minutes ago."

"I was just," she laughed. "I was just thinking."

"About the undercover assignment?"

She turned around and frowned at him, "How do you know about that?"

"Karen called me yesterday, wanting to know when you and Shawn were coming back and what I thought about the two of you being involved."

"What did you say?" She placed the basket out of the way and leaned against the counter.

Henry shrugged as he got a beer out and opened it. "That Shawn would be up for it but they would need to limit him on what he could order from room service."

"And me?"

"It would take some time to convince you; but once you agreed, you would be a good asset to the operation and should be able to keep Carlton in character."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Beth looked down and crossed her arms.

"Of course I am."

"It's just; I don't like the thought of Carlton putting himself out there as bait."

"He's a trained officer and knows the risks."

"That's what he said."

"I know it's scary but think of all the people he could be saving when we catch this guy."

She sighed. "I don't like the unknown, anything can happen."

"Anything can happen at any moment of the day. It's a part of life."

She laughed. "That's what Carlton said."

"And am I ever wrong?"

"I don't think so."

"Are you going to let what might happen stop you from living?" Henry asked as he patted her back.

"No."

"Good. Now how about a game of chess?"

Beth laughed as she nodded. "Sure, why not."

* * *

They were playing a very entertaining game of chess while waiting on dinner when Henry's phone rang. "Now don't you dare cheat, I'll be right back."

"Yes sir."

"I mean it." Henry was almost at the phone when he called back, "You better not have moved the rook!"

"Oh come on! How the hell did you do that?"

"I know you too well. Also, don't forget who I have as a son."

"Touché, my good man."

He laughed as he picked up the phone. "Yeah."

"Hello Henry, sir, it's Carlton."

"What can I do for you, Carlton?"

Carlton coughed nervously, "Well, you see, Beth's cell is broken and she isn't answering my house phone so I was wondering..."

"If that's Carlton, tell him that I'll be back around 8!" Beth called.

Henry chuckled. "Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I guess that answers my question."

"Good. Anything else I can help you with?"

"Did she tell you about the case?"

"Yes but she didn't have to. Karen told me."

"Oh, well do you know whether she's still going to agree? Because I really need to get some of the paperwork filed tonight."

"She still has some doubts but she will do it. Why don't you come over and have dinner with us so the two of you can talk."

"I don't want to intrude."

"I'm inviting you, aren't I? Look, the food will be done in about 40 minutes and we'll wait for you."

"Well I guess..."

"Good. Now hurry up or we might change our minds about waiting for you."

"Yes sir."

Henry shook his head as he hung up and headed back outside.

"So what did he want?" Beth asked nervously.

"Just wanted to make sure that you were still up for the assignment. He'll be by for dinner."

Beth nodded.

After a few seconds of silence, Henry asked, "Are you still having doubts?"

"Of course."

"But you're going to do it?"

"Yeah. Someone has to keep him in character. Plus, I will be able to keep an eye on him."

"Good." Henry nodded as he moved one of his pieces. "Checkmate."

"Ugg! How do you do that?!"

Henry just chuckled as he reset the board.

* * *

As Carlton was coming through the door of Henry's house, he heard, "About time you got here! We were just about to start eating and feed your food to the dog."

Carlton shook his head and gave Beth one of his mock glares saved especially for her. "If you did, I would have just taken what was left of yours and not shared any of this strawberry shortcake I brought."

"Psh, like I would let you touch my food and there's no way you would have been able to hide that from me." She immediately got up and tried to lunge for the box Carlton was holding but he was quicker than her and raised it above his head.

"Hey! It's called desert for a reason."

"I just want to look at it." Beth whined as she jumped for it.

"No, you want to stick your finger in it to taste it; which is very disgusting and rude. You act like such a child sometimes."

"Says the one holding the food out of my reach."

"Because I don't want you to eat any right now. Why are we still having this discussion?"

"I was wondering the same thing and am very close to slapping the both of you." Henry commented as he started filling his plate. "Really, the two of you are almost as bad as Shawn and Gus sometimes. Sit down so we can eat."

"I take great offensive to that. I am nothing like your son." Carlton growled as he placed the box on the counter before pushing Beth towards the table.

"Oh don't be silly Lassie, of course you are. You both solve crimes, are excellent marksmen, friends with me, and um... I'm not sure what else, I'll get back to you on that."

"Thanks a lot." Carlton grumbled as he took the seat next to her, pushing back when she nudged him.

"Are you two done? Because I'll eat by myself and you guys can go somewhere else to eat." Henry said, holding the spatula out for them to take.

"What about Frisco? Would you share with him?" Beth asked sweetly.

"Maybe a little. I do make a mean meatloaf."

"Don't you mean a lean meatloaf?"

"Just eat your food, smartass. You're definitely the Shawn in the analogy."

She picked up her fork and thought about it. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm definitely the fun one in this friendship while Carlton is a stickler for the rules. Plus I have a motorcycle."

Carlton sighed. "While I don't appreciate being compared to either of them, I'd rather be compared to Guster then Spencer."

"Dude, why do you keep calling them by their last names? You've known them for over 5 years and we've hung out with them countless times over the past few months."

"They act like juveniles and don't deserve to be addressed as comrades."

"So instead you give them a position of respect and hierarchy over you?"

"No, and that would only be true if I called them Mr Guster or Mr Spencer but I don't. If anything, I'm giving their families respect."

"What about Juliet? You still call her O'Hara and I think that you have a lot of respect for her."

"Well, that's different."

"Why? Because she's a woman? That's very sexist of you."

"No, because she's a colleague and deserves a lot more respect and um…" Carlton nervously coughed.

"Nope, you are not getting out of this one!" Beth smiled.

Henry sighed, "Can we please change the subject?"

"Fine." She sighed. After eating a bit of baked potato, she said, "So one of the things I discovered about Shawn this month is that he's really good with kids."

"Really?" Henry skeptically.

"Yeah, as long as he doesn't have to do, as he calls it, 'the gross stuff'."

"Now that I believe," Henry shook his head.


	4. Chapter 4

_**YAY THURSDAY!**_I'm so glad that it's thursday because that means I only have one more dayof work until the weekend. Plus my work is closed for over a week so staycation time! Although, if it was up to me, I would go to Chicago to visit family but my scaredy dog won't eat his food if I'm not home and I don't have a car/license to take him with me *sigh* Whatever. Maybe I'll get further along on a few of my stories when I'm not busy cleaning and what-not.

Anyways, the next two chapters are...interesting, I guess. Remember, I'm not associated with anything that you might recognize and I also make things up, too, especially names.

Enjoy!

* * *

_**CHAPTER 4**_

Beth stared at her phone as she petted Frisco. After dinner last night, she went for a drive along the ocean and ended up stopping to buy a new phone. Since it would just be easier to keep Frisco at Henry's house instead of bringing him to Carlton's house for two nights before coming back to Henry's while they were at the hotel, Beth decided to stay at Henry's as well.

She was all for staying in bed the entire day since she didn't get much sleep the last few weeks. Frisco didn't seem to mind, as long as he could use her leg as a pillow. It was nearing 10, so she figured she should get up soon, at least to let Frisco out and feed him, but she wanted to make a phone call first. Susie told her to call as soon as she got back, but with everything that happened yesterday, she forgot.

Beth checked the time. Susie should be going on her lunch break soon so it would be a good time to call. Chickening out, she sent Susie a text: _Got back safely yest. Sry forgot 2 call but sumthing interestin came up. Tell you more l8r, if they let me ;^) ttyl ~Beth_.

Closing the phone with a sigh, she looked at Frisco who lifted his head up. "So, are you hungry?" Frisco yawned as he slowly got up and stretched. "I'll take that as a yes, hmm?"

He shook as he jumped off the bed and waited expectantly by the door. She laughed as she got up, grabbed her hoodie and followed the dog downstairs. He went straight for the door. Checking to make sure that the gate was shut, she let him out. Walking into the kitchen, she smiled when she saw Henry's note that he went fishing. After filling Frisco's dish and letting him in, she decided to have breakfast since she was already up.

She was almost done with her bowl of cereal when her phone went off. Smiling at the special ring tone, she answered quickly, "Hey Suzie Q!"

_"Hey Lizzie Borden!" _

Beth sighed as she put her bowl in the sink. "Why do you keep calling me that? You get a generic nickname while I get one of a famous murderer?!"

_"Famous SUSPECTED murderer." _

"Either way, it's so not fair!"

_"Who's the sadist?" _

"We both are."

_"Fair point. But who's more of a sadist?" _

"I guess I am." Beth shook her head and went outside to sit on the porch.

_"Exactly! If you want, you can call me some famous suspected or even guilty murderer by the name of Susan." _

"I don't think there are any. Why don't you call me some other famous Lizzie or Beth or Elizabeth?"

_"Well, at the moment, I can only think of Queen Elizabeth 1 and 2 but that's really long. Unless you want me to call you QE3, but then people might think I'm calling you a ship..." _

"Well, there's Elisabeth Sladen."

_"So you want me to call you Sarah Jane Smith?" _

"Maybe. I would say SJS, but then people might think you're talking about Spiderman's girlfriend."

_"Her name was MJ."_

"Whatever."

"_How about Elizabeth Corday?" _

"Fictional character. Although Alex Kingston is pretty cool, especially as River Song."

_"Okay, um...how about Emily Elizabeth?" _

"Really? Another fictional character?"

_"Hey! She likes dogs, you like dogs..." _

"Her dog was bigger than a house!"

_"So? Okay, whatever. Let me think..." _

"Can we just stick with Lizzie? Especially since you're only one who calls me that."

_"But it's so boring!" _Susie whined

"Suz!"

_"Fine! Hey! You almost made me forget why I called." _

"Hehehe! My evil unintentional plan worked!" Beth grinned widely as Frisco came over and laid down near her feet.

_"And you say you're not a sadist!" _

"I never say that! In fact, I tend to put that in my disclaimer when I meet people."

_"Seriously?" _

"Yep! I even told Carlton on our first date! Or was it our second date? First non-date? I don't think we even clarified that..."

_"Well I think you're confusing me and distracting me from my purpose of calling!" _

"Okay, okay. I'll stop."

_"Good. Now dish! What's this 'something interesting' that's happening? You know how I love gossip." _

Beth laughed. "Well, there's this case but I'm not sure I'm allowed to say anything."

_"Oh come on! I won't tell. Please!" Susie begged._

"Alright fine. So for this case, where I will not give you any vital intel, Carlton is going undercover in the hope that someone will attempt to kidnap him."

_"Attempt?" _

"Yeah, they're going to do all they can to stop it and arrest the people."

_"So you're scared that the person will succeed in kidnapping him?" _

"Yeah, and there's more."

_"Go on." _

Beth sighed. "Well, apparently all the previous kidnapping victims were with significant others. So, in order to make it more convincing and help him stay in character, they've asked me to go along as his fiancée."

There was silence on the line before Susie finally said, _"Wow." _

"I know." Susie tried to stifle a laugh. "Suz, it's not funny."

_"Yeah it is." _

"No it's not!"

_"Oh come on! I've met the guy! He is such a stick in the mud. If I didn't know you so well, I would wonder why you were even friends with him." _

"He's a good guy once you get to know him."

_"I agree that he's a good cop and all; but I really don't see him as boyfriend or husband material for anyone besides another stick in the mud." _

Beth looked down at that. "Wow Suz. Why don't you tell me what you really think? You sound like my mother and I really don't need another one of those lectures."

_"Oh Lizzie I'm sorry! You know how I can be a jerk and don't always think before speaking!" _

"Yeah, I know."

There was silence before Susie asked,_ "Do you forgive me?" _

"Of course. I've known you too long not to." Beth smiled slightly.

_"Thanks!" _

Beth's face fell as she said, "I'm scared, Suz."

_"Scared of what? Him trying something? Because if he does, you know I'll fly out there to kick his butt." _

Beth smiled. "You would have to get inline behind Henry and Shawn."

_"That's okay; I'll take whatever is left." _

"I also wouldn't put it past Amy to come all the way out here too, new baby or not."

_"You're right. There might not be anything left." _

Beth laughed again before sighing, "But seriously, I'm afraid that if they do succeed in kidnapping him, that they might find out he's a cop and kill him."

_"Oh Beth! I highly doubt that would happen!" _

"But it's a possibility! And I don't know what I would do if that happens." Beth tried to blink away the tears.

_"He's a cop, he knows the risks. And you are a strong women. You will get through this. You have tons of people there for you, both here in Cleveland and in Santa Barbara_."

"I know. It's just, a scary prospect. You know I don't deal with death well."

_"Yeah. But who said anything about death?" _Susie paused before asking, _"Hey, how long are you suppose to be undercover or whatever?" _

"Well, we get there tomorrow night and the reservation is through Sunday. Obviously if they catch the people, we'll leave early but I don't know what will happen if nothing happens."

_"Okay. Well how about this: I've got some vacation days available so I can fly out tonight and be there for moral support, not that you will really need it." _

"Oh no, you don't have to do that. Besides, you will be alone for about 4 days."

_"So? Girl, you're in California! I can easy spend those days on the beach guy watching." _

"Wow, really?"

_"Of course! It's the middle of summer so there should be plenty of guys in form-fitting swim trunks and a few Speedos. Oh, I'm getting excited just thinking about it!" _

"Susie! Aren't you the one who always hates it when guys objectify women?"

_"Yeah. And your point is..." _

Beth scoffed and shook her head. "Double standard much?"

_"Hey! I work in a daycare center with kids under the age of 5. Usually the only guys I see are married." _

"I guess you have a point."

_"Besides, if you can spend over half the year traveling by yourself, then you know I can easily spend four days alone on the beach, maybe pick up a guy or two." _

Beth laughed, "Okay, I guess you win."

_"Thank you. Now, I've got about 15-20 minutes left on my break and I've yet to eat anything." _

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

_"It's not your fault. Not everything is your fault, you know. How many times do I have to keep telling you that you shouldn't apologize for things you have no control over. I could have eaten while we were talking." _

"Sorry, force of habit."

_"There you go again!" _She said exasperated.

"Suz, you know I'm stubborn and don't change easily."

_"Yeah, yeah, I know. Oh, what time do you have to leave?" _

"Umm, I don't actually know. Carlton said tomorrow night. Most places have check-in before 6 and I think it's about a 2 hour drive. My guess will be around noon."

"_Okay, then I will aim for earlier in the morning." _

"Not too early or I might have to hurt you!"

Susie laughed, _"I'll keep that in mind."_

"Thanks, Suz. It means a lot to me. And I promise, when I get back, we will have some quality girl time, with some beach guy watching if you so desire," Beth laughed.

_"Oh, I do! And you and I are going to go on a double date." _

"No way Suz!"

_"Why?" _

"Just go eat some food."

_"Yes ma'am! I'll let you know when my flight gets in and I will work on more names for you."_

Beth laughed, "Bye."

_"Bye!" _

She hung up and looked down at the dog. "What do you say, Frisco? Are you up for a jog?"

Frisco lifted his head and barked happily. "Well, let's go get your stuff then!" She said excitedly as she went back inside, Frisco tagging along. She wrote a quick message on Henry's note, saying that she went to Carlton's and would be back for dinner.

* * *

Beth was worn out by the time she got to Carlton's; it was a 4 mile jog and she hadn't done much jogging in over a month. After tossing her bag towards the laundry room, she collapsed on the couch, Frisco jumping up next to her.

She had barely kicked off her shoes when Murphy came over and climbed on her lap. "Oof! I missed you, Smurf!"

A meow from the hallway caught her attention and she looked over to find Salem flicking his tail and rubbing against the doorway. "Ha ha, I missed you too Salem, but I am way too tired to come to you." Salem meowed again before disappearing down the hallway. "Your loss." Yawning, she managed to snag the remote without dislodging Murphy. "Now, let's see if Carly left any Doctor Who on the Tivo."


	5. Chapter 5

_**CHAPTER 5**_

A few hours later, Beth woke to the ringing of her cell phone. Smiling at the ring tone that she picked for Carlton, she slowly dislodged her phone from under Murphy. "Holá Inspector Carlotta. Cómo estás?"

_"*sigh* If I didn't have to talk with you, I would chew you out before hanging up on you for calling me that!" _

Beth smiled, "Sorry. I was having a weird dream that was in Spanish but I couldn't understand anything except a few words. And you have to admit, your name isn't very Spanish."

_"I'm also not a girl! You couldn't have gone with Carlos?" _

"Sorry, but that would be too boring. Plus you know how much I love teasing you, especially since we had almost three weeks of no contact!"

_"And whose fault was that?" _

"Hmm, the weather?" Beth smirked as Carlton growled.

_"Anyways, I called to give you some details and hope that you can help fill in the rest." _

"Okay, shoot."

_"Since the Chief saw no problem in it, you can use your own name and most of your background information." _

"Most of it? What can't I use?"

_"Well, anything that relates to the SBPD or any of its members." _

"Okay, I think I can work around that."

_"Anything you are not sure about?" _

"Nah, it seems pretty simple. Next."

_"Okay. I am a history teacher from nearby Los Angeles and my name is *grumble* Carl O'Neil." _

Beth tried to stifle her laughter. "Carl O'Neil?"

_"Yes. Carl is close enough to my name that I'll recognize it and O'Neil is a family name." _

"Really? How far back?"

_"My great-grandmother's maiden name." _

"Aww, how sweet!"

_"So your job is to come up with a convincing background story on how we met."_

"Okay. Oh! What time are we leaving tomorrow?"

_"Um, I think we need to leave around 1, 2:30 at the very latest." _

"Okay well Suz is going to come visit for a week or so and she's gonna try to get in early tomorrow morning."

_"Why? We're going to be gone for a few days." _

Beth shifted uncomfortably. "So? She's a big girl, she can handle herself. She'll be here for a little over a week and is going to watch my cats as well."

_"*sigh* I guess that means she'll be staying at my house then?" _

"Yep! But don't worry, I have an air mattress that one of us will use so you don't have to worry about giving up your bed or coming across anything...interesting in the living room. I'll be sure to mention to her that there are no strange guys allowed."

_"Fine, whatever. I have to go, the chief is calling me over. Be sure to work on a believable background story." _

"Okay, I will do my best."

_"Thank you. I should be off work by 5. Will you still be at Henry's?" _

"Yep. I'm actually at your house right now so I can pack and wash clothes."

"_Okay. Don't make a mess. Bye."_

"Bye Carly!"

Carlton growled before hanging up.

Beth laughed as she lowered the phone. She looked over at Frisco who was panting happily. "I guess I should get up and do what I came over to do." Her stomach chose that moment to grumble. "And I better hurry up so I can eat lunch."

* * *

After dinner, Beth led Carlton out onto Henry's back porch and showed him her notebook.

"What is this?" He asked and carefully looked it over.

"My confession to murder." She said seriously, causing him to look up at her with surprise. "I'm kidding, gosh! It's a few different versions on how we met and how you proposed. What else does it look like?"

"Sorry," Carlton mumbled as he looked back at the notebook. Once he was done, he said, "Well, I guess…" he frowned when he heard a weird sound. "Is that the TARDIS?"

Beth laughed as she pulled out her phone. "Yeah. It's my ring tone for Susie."

"I don't even want to know what mine is." Carlton grumbled.

"Oh good, because you would probably shoot me." Beth smiled as she picked up, "Hey Suz."

"_Hey! So I'm at the airport right now and my flight is about to start boarding."_

"Cool. So when are you due into town."

"_Well, I've got 2 layovers and am landing at LAX, which I know is a super busy airport but…"_

"Suz, what time?"

"_7am."_

"Ugg," Beth banged her head on the table. "Why so early?!"

"_Hey! Between what I could get with my free air miles and what seats were left, it was either that or wait to leave until morning!"_

"Okay," Beth rubbed her forehead. "So I guess I'll aim for getting there around 7:30?"

"_Sounds good. I'll call you later with the rest of the details."_

"Have a good flight."

"_Thanks. Bye!"_

"Bye." Beth sighed as she put down the phone and continued to lay her head on the table.

"Bad news?" Carlton asked. He had been half-listening as he tried to memorize the story he preferred.

"Not really. Susie's flight gets in about 7am at LAX which means I probably have to get up before 5."

Carlton smirked, "Do you want me to give you a wake up call?"

"No. I'll ask Henry if he'll drive, that way one of us will be awake."

"Okay."

"So which one did you like?" Beth asked as she finally picked her head up and leaned forward.

"The one about meeting in a bar one day in Los Angeles and then coming across each other again in a bookstore in Santa Barbara."

She smiled. "Good. I liked that one best. How about the proposals?"

"Umm, well the first one is a little bit too close to how I proposed to my ex-wife."

"Okay, not that one. What about the third one? I like that one."

"A picnic on the beach at sunset? I guess." Carlton shrugged.

"It's romantic and not very flashy or spectator-y."

"Spectator-y?" Carlton raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you know. Not in front of a big group of people. I would hate that and I suspect you would too."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Good. So how long ago did we get engaged?"

"I don't know."

"Well, if we first met in December or January, we probably didn't start dating until February, maybe March. So would Memorial Day weekend be too early or end of June?"

"No, I think Memorial Day is fine."

"Good." Beth smiled as she leaned over and pecked him quickly on the lips.

He frowned at her, "What was that for?"

"Just practicing," Beth blushed as she went inside. "I'm gonna take Frisco for some ice cream. Would you like to join us, Carly?"

Carlton crossed his arms as he followed. "How long is this going to take?"

"I don't know. Hey Henry, where's the closest outdoor ice cream place?"

Henry muted the television as he answered, "Outdoor? I'm guessing a few miles. But there's an indoor one about a half mile away over on Grant street."

"Okay, so like, 30/40 minutes?" Beth told Carlton as she grabbed Frisco's leash.

"I guess I can go. I still need to pack."

"Great. Let's go Frisco!" Beth said excitedly as she skipped to the door with Frisco following.

"Hey! No skipping in the house!" Henry yelled as he turned the volume back on.

Carlton just shook his head as he followed.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everyone! So usually I have the first like 10 chapters typed before I start posting but I only had the first 5 done. I didn't get as much written this week for this story but whatever, I still have high hopes for this story.

I picked the name Ernesto for the resort because I didn't want to use a real resort name, especially since I've never been to Cali, but also because that's my dog's name. Well, his name is Ernie but sometimes we call him Ernesto.

So, Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 6

_"Carlton?" Beth called as she opened the hotel room door. She got no response and found the room strangely empty, even some of the furniture and wall decoration were missing. Shaking her head, she headed for the bathroom door and called again, "Carlton? Are you in there?" She opened the door and found, not a bathroom, but a forest. _

_She went through the door and started walking faster, all the while still calling for Carlton. Before she knew it, she was running and the trees seemed to leap out of her way. That is, until she tripped over a root and went sprawling. "Ow," Beth whined as she rubbed her face._

_The sight that met her when she sat up made her freeze. Carlton was laying five feet away with a bullet wound in his gut. With a gasp, she hurried to his side and tried to stop the bleeding. "Carlton? What's wrong? What happened?" _

_Carlton took in a shaky breath and said, "Y-you didn't...s-s-save me..." _

_"What?! Save you from what?" _

_"They k-k-kidnapped me and tor-tortured me and you did n-n-nothing!" _

_"No, Carlton! It-it wasn't my fault! I didn't know!" _

_"Y-yes you did…and now…I'm dead…" With a final breath, Carlton went limp, although his eyes kept staring at her. _

_"NO! I'm sorry! D-don't go!" Beth cried. _

_Carlton blinked and cocked his head. "And now you must join me." _

_"Wha..." She was cut off as Carlton's hand closed around her throat. _

_"You must die too." Carlton said louder, increasing pressure as Beth continued to struggle._

With a gasp, Beth sat up and brought a hand to her neck. It took her a few seconds to realize that it was just a dream, Carlton wasn't there, and they hadn't left for the hotel yet. She jumped when she heard Henry ask, "Are you okay?"

Taking deep breaths, she looked across the truck at him and nodded, "Yeah. Just a…a bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She laughed, "No. It was stupid anyways."

"Okay."

Beth looked out the window and saw that they were in the LA area, although still on the highway. "How much longer?"

"Well, I think about 10 more minutes, assuming we're not driving around the parking lot forever."

She laughed and took out her phone. It was 7:18 and Susie hadn't called yet, meaning that her flight was either on time or running late.

Closing her eyes, she thought about the dream and how real everything felt: the wind whipping her face, the blood on Carlton's shirt, Carlton's hands around her neck… She jumped when there was a hand on her arm.

"Sorry," Henry said with a frown. "But you weren't responding when I called your name. We're at the airport now."

"Thanks." Beth nodded as she took off the seatbelt with shaky hands.

"Hey," Henry said softly, causing her to stop and look at him. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it? You look pretty shaken up."

"I'll be fine. As soon as this case is over, I'll be perfectly fine." Beth smiled slightly as she quickly opened the door and exited.

Henry sighed as he joined her.

* * *

Beth startled awake from someone knocking. She looked around to see Carlton leaning into the driver's side window while trying to hide a smile. "Have a good nap?"

Susie groaned as she stretched, "Beth, tell your fiancé to shut up."

Carlton rolled his eyes, "We're not really engaged."

"Well, you could have fooled me. Where are we anyways?" She asked as she looked outside.

"Carlton's house." Beth said as she slide towards Carlton so she could get out. "Where's Henry?"

"Getting coffee. Said he really needed some before the two of you start giggling again."

"We weren't giggling that much." Susie said as she got out and joined them. "We even fell asleep for, what? An hour?"

"He said that was his favorite part of the trip." Carlton shrugged as he grabbed Susie's bag and headed back inside.

Beth scoffed as she looked at Susie. "You know what this means, right?"

"We need to be as obnoxious as ever before you guys leave."

"You read my mind, Susie Q." Beth smiled widely as they linked arms.

"Well Lizzy Darcy, you know what they say about great minds." Susie smiled just as big.

"Who?" Beth frowned as she thought. "Oh! Pride and Prejudice! Right, Elizabeth is an awesome character and not many people would get the reference if you use Darcy instead of Bennet."

"But I should keep thinking?"

"Preferably."

"Okay," Susie shrugged.

They took a deep breath before bursting into "I'm Henry the Eighth" and skipped into the house.

* * *

A few hours later, Carlton was putting the bags in the car while Beth and Susie hugged on the porch. "I'm still scared." Beth whispered.

"Don't be. You'll be fine. He's a trained officer and there will be plenty of back up." Susie whispered just as quietly.

"But what if something happens?"

Susie sighed as she leaned back to look Beth in the eyes. "Hey. You can't live in the land of 'what ifs' or nothing worthwhile will ever happen. Just, enjoy yourself. It's a paid vacation at an awesome resort! If you need me, I will come and join you."

Beth laughed shakily. "No thank you. I don't want to put you in harm's way too."

"Who said I would be? You know how badass I am and I definitely know how to protect myself."

"It's okay. Enjoy your vacation. Go guy watching or whatever. And I'll see you when I get back."

"Alright. But don't hesitate to call me. Even if I'm in the middle of a hot date, I will drop everything to help you." Susie winked.

Beth smiled. "Thanks."

"That's what best friends are for."

"What would I ever do without you?"

"I don't know. But I never want to find out."

"Me neither."

"Beth? Are you ready?" Carlton called.

Susie rolled her eyes and yelled back, "Hey! You get her all to yourself for the next 4 days! Just let me have her for a few minutes or so help me I will have the loudest, wildest party at your house."

Carlton glared, "You wouldn't dare."

Susie smiled widely, "Wanna bet?"

Beth laughed, "Believe me, Carlton. She will if you don't watch it."

He deepened his glare as he looked between the two of them. "You have one minute."

"Aye, Aye sexy captain!" Beth mock saluted.

It was Susie's turn to laugh as Carlton blushed and got inside the car. "Oh, I wish I could come! You're going to have so much fun tormenting him! He's going to be one tough shell to crack. Good luck with that."

"Thanks. Who knows, maybe it'll be my chance to finally win him over." Beth blushed and ducked her head.

Susie sighed. "Lizzie, don't get your hopes up. If you haven't landed him by now, I don't know if you ever will."

"It just takes him awhile to open up, just like me."

"Well, good luck." Susie smiled as she hugged Beth again.

"Thanks." They held on a little longer until a honk separated them. Beth laughed as they pulled apart. "He's so impatient sometimes."

"More like a control freak." Susie glared at Carlton.

"Yeah. Okay, I'm really going this time." Beth said nervously as she started to walk away.

"Remember to have fun!" Susie smiled.

Beth waved as she got in. Carlton barely waited for her to buckle up before pulling out of the driveway. "Wow, a bit eager, are we?"

"I told you that we had to leave by 2:30 and it is currently 2:47."

"Sorry. I'll do better next time." She mumbled and turned to look out the window.

He looked between her and the road. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tired."

"Well it's about an hour and a half ride so you can probably get some sleep now."

"Okay." She sighed. After a few seconds of silence, she reached over and turned the radio on.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

The ride to the resort was fairly quiet, with just the radio and Beth's occasional singing to fill it. Once they were parked, Carlton turned to her and asked, "Are you ready?"

"What if I said no?" She nervously bit her lip and played with her purse strap.

"Then we can head back to Santa Barbara right now and either try again tomorrow or I can find someone else."

"No, it's...it's fine. I'll be fine. Just nerves. Let's go."

"Okay." He nodded as they got out of the car. He grabbed the bags out of the backseat and met Beth on the other side of the car. She took the bag out of his left hand and intertwined their hands.

"Have I ever told you that you are the perfect gentlemen?"

Carlton blushed as they started walking. "I think so."

"Good, because you are." She smiled.

They walked in silence all the way up to the main desk. The receptionist smiled and greeted them. "Hello and welcome to the Ernesto resort. My name is Randy. Shall I have someone get your bags for you?"

"No we're fine." Carlton said as he pulled out their reservation information.

Beth patted his arm and said, "Carl, dear. Let them do their job."

"But it's only three bags."

"So? Someone is also going to show us to our room and you might as well give them something else to do."

Carlton sighed, "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope!" Beth smiled as she turned back to Randy. "We would gladly accept help with our bags."

"Very well. Now, may I have your names?"

"The reservation is under Carl O'Neil for a room with two beds starting tonight through Sunday afternoon."

"Alright. One moment please."

Beth giggled.

"What?" Carlton asked a bit peeved.

"Well, he only really needed your name, the computer would have told him everything else."

"Yeah well I like to be thorough."

"Whatever you say Carly."

Carlton growled at her but was quickly interrupted by Randy. "Okay. I have a Carl O'Neil plus one for 3 nights."

"Good."

"Oh, but um..."

"What?" Carlton tried not to growl.

"Did you say two beds?"

"Yes."

"Well, we seem to have you in a room that only has one bed."

"What?"

"It says here room 253, which only has one queen-sized bed."

Before Carlton could snap at the man, Beth asked, "Is there another room available that has 2 beds?"

"Let me check." Randy proceeded to type away for a few minutes before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, all our rooms are either currently occupied or are reserved for tomorrow."

Carlton glared and pointed at a piece of paper. "It says right here, reservation with 2 beds for today."

"I'm so sorry sir, it must be a mistake on our end. Let me get the manager."

"You do that." Carlton growled.

Randy swallowed nervously as he picked up the phone. "Mister Michaels, sir. This is Randy at the front desk… Well, we seem to be having a little problem with a reservation and there are no other rooms available… Yes sir… Okay. Thank you, sir." He hung up and looked at Carlton nervously. "Mr. Michaels will be right down."

"Thank you." Beth said with smile. "Will you excuse us for one minute?"

"Of course."

Beth nodded politely as she led Carlton across the lobby.

"What?!" Carlton snapped.

She whispered fiercely, "Why are you being so mean to this guy? He's just doing his job, no need to bite his head off!"

"They messed up our reservation!"

"So? Do you really think it's Randy's fault? He looks like he just started and you were short with him before he even looked it up! From the sound of it, we're going to be sharing a bed so either be nicer or you will be sleeping on the floor." She glared at him and he glared right back.

After a minute he said, "Fine. Let's just get this over with."

"Good. You know, we act more like an old married couple than a newly engaged couple."

Carlton winced at that. "Sorry. I guess the chief was wrong and you won't be able to help me relax."

"Oh I will, just give me time. Trust me."

Carlton shook his head. "For some strange reason, I do."

"Yeah, a lot of people trust me and I honestly don't know why." She smiled as she led the way back over to the desk.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. O'Neil. I'm Mr. Michaels, the day manager here. Please accept my personal apologizes for this mix up." The manager said.

"First off, we're not married yet; just engaged." Beth smiled. "And secondly, were you able to fix it?"

"It seems to be an internal error and, like I'm sure Randy has already told you, there are no other rooms available. What I can do is have a rollaway bed brought in along with extra bedding."

"That's okay. We can managed with one bed. If not, well then Carl here can sleep on the floor." She smiled widely at him as he glared back.

"Are you sure?" Mr. Michaels asked. Carlton nodded reluctantly, causing Beth's smile to grow. "Very well. I would also like to offer, as an apology, a $100 deduction from your room charge."

"Thank you very much."

"Now if I can just see some ID and a credit card, we can complete your check-in and show you to your room."

"Of course." Carlton said as he passed over his cards.

"I can take it from here, Randy. Why don't you take a coffee break?"

"Yes sir." Randy nodded as he quickly sped off.

"My apologize detectives, but he's new." Mr. Michaels whispered as he checked them in.

"Understandable." Carlton mumbled.

"By the way, I'm not..." Beth started, only to wince when Carlton squeezed her hand tightly. He gave her a pointed look and subtle head shake.

"I'm sorry?" Mr. Michaels asked.

"I'm um...not um... familiar with your resort. Do you have a list of services and activities that I can look at."

"Of course miss." He nodded and passed her a brochure.

"Thank you for cooperating with the police in this matter." Carlton said quietly.

"Oh, of course. I want this solved as quickly and safely as possible. Not only for my resort's reputation, but because I want my guess to feel safe. I dread what will happen once the press finds out."

"Hopefully they won't find out until this is all over since the press will recognize some of us." Carlton said seriously. Beth tried to stifle a laugh but knew she failed when Carlton gave her a quick withering look.

"Of course. If you would just sign here, Mr. O'Neil." The manager said louder as he passed Carlton an electronic pad. Carlton quickly signed and passed it back. "Very good. Here are your room keys and you already have a list of activities you can do here. I would like to highlight the karaoke event tonight as well as the friendly 100 meter swim and bonfire tomorrow."

"Oh, those sound like so much fun! I love karaoke and bonfires!" Beth said excitedly as Carlton handed her a key.

"And here is your receipt. If you would wait just one moment, I'll have Jerry show you to your room. He's new here." Mr. Michaels said with a pointed look.

"Good to know." Carlton nodded.

"Enjoy your stay!"

As they turned away from the desk, Beth whispered, "What was that about?"

"I believe he was telling us that Jerry is one of the undercover officers."

"Oh, okay." Beth nodded as a guy barely older than herself came up to them.

"If you would just follow me."


	8. Chapter 8

Hey! So I'm not 100% satisfied with this chapter but whatever, it has it's good points.

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 8

Once Jerry had left and the door shut behind him, Beth collapsed on the bed and looked around. "Wow. This is a pretty nice place. Why would anyone commit a crime here?"

Carlton snorted as he unpacked his suitcase. "Who knows why anyone commits crimes period."

"Yeah." She sighed and looked at the activities list. "Let's see. The Ernesto Resort has two different restaurants, a fitness center, heated indoor pool, full service spa, and an arcade center. It is near 1-2-3-4...10 golf courses; hundreds of wineries; a full service horse ranch and a castle! I love castles! Let's go see the castle, please!"

"For one thing, this is California, so it's probably more of a mansion than a castle. And secondly, we're on a case, so we need to stay here to investigate."

"But Carly!" She whined as she sat up. "Only people on their honeymoons stay in their rooms all day! I want to go exploring! Can we at least visit the horse ranch? You can ride a horse on the beach at sunset. Wouldn't that be so roman-I mean pretty." She blushed and looked away.

Carlton sighed, "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope. If you make me stay in the resort all weekend, I'm gonna go crazy and drag you down with me."

"Fine. What would you like to do?"

"Well tonight there's karaoke, so why don't we go eat dinner in one of the restaurants first? I know that 5:30 is kind of early, but it will give you a chance to scope it out before the karaoke begins."

"Okay. Did you want to um, freshen up before we go?" He asked awkwardly.

She laughed. "Nothing more than a regular bathroom break. I'll be right back."

Carlton shook his head as Beth continued to laugh even once the door closed.

* * *

When Beth came out a few minutes later, Carlton checked his pockets and headed to the door. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, but aren't you gonna change?"

"Why? What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Well, for one thing, you're still wearing a suit jacket and tie. You look like you're about to go to a business meeting instead of being on vacation."

"Hey! These are my…"

"Casual gentlemen's shoes. I know, but that doesn't mean that the rest of your outfit is casual." Beth shook her head and headed for the closet. "I knew I should have helped you pack. Now what did you bring?"

"I don't need any help packing for a vacation."

"Apparently you do because all I see are suits, dress shirts and ties. Here. Put this on and lose the jacket and tie." She brought a dark blue shirt over to him.

"I need my jacket to hide my gun."

"Really? You're going to dinner packing? You might as well announce to the whole resort that you're a cop."

"I think I'll take the risk considering what might happen." Carlton snapped.

Beth's eyes widen and she quickly turned away.

"Crap." Carlton sighed as he stepped closer and put a hand on her arm. She flinched at his touch but he resisted the urge to let go. "Beth, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just stressed over everything and it doesn't help that everyone is finding the need to lecture me."

"Everyone?" She asked shakily, sounding on the edge of tears.

"Yes, everyone. Including the chief."

"What did she say?" Beth turned around slightly so she could see his face.

"That I need to relax and think of this as a vacation instead of a case; but if I get kidnapped, she's going to kick my ass and put me on traffic patrol for a month."

She covered her mouth and tried, unsuccessfully, not to laugh. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, and you don't even want to know what Henry said."

"Oh, I so do! Please tell me!"

Carlton coughed nervously and looked away. "He said that I better come back in one piece Sunday or so help him, he's going to take me fishing and there's going to be an accident. And if anything happens to you…well, I better be dead before he finds me or I will wish I had been dead."

"Oh my god, Henry's attached! He's thinking of you as a, a…well, not a son, but definitely a close nephew." Beth laughed as she turned the rest of the way around and hugged him. "And by the way, if anything does happen to me, I want to warn you that Susie is totally willing to kick your ass, even after Henry and Amy are through with you."

Carlton snorted as he hugged back. "Wow, thanks. I didn't really need to know that."

"Just letting you know." Beth laughed as she pulled back. "Okay, so you need to change your shirt. I would say your pants too but you didn't bring anything besides dress pants and I only grabbed one pair of jeans for you…"

"Wait, you grabbed clothes for me?"

She shrugged and played with the hanger. "Well, I didn't have time to check what you packed and I had room in my bags so I grabbed you a pair of jeans, swim trunks, and a light jacket."

Carlton frowned. "Where did you find swim trunks?"

"In one of the bottom drawers that you hardly ever open."

"And how did you know that they were in there?" Carlton crossed his arms.

"I may have been bored one day while I was still on crutches and decided to see if you were hiding anything good. I must say, I did not expect to see some of those magazines in your closet, deeply hidden or not."

Carlton coughed nervously. "They were a gag birthday gift from Lauren one year."

"And you never got rid of them?"

"They have some interesting articles that I thought might be useful one day." He blushed and turned away.

"Wow." Beth covered her mouth and tried not to laugh. "Are you honestly trying to tell me that you weren't the least bit interested in the pictures?"

"I-I-I. N-no. No!" Carlton's eyes traveled the room nervously, eventually landing on the shirt Beth was still holding. "So, th-this is the shirt you w-wan-want me to wear?"

She giggled at Carlton's change of subject. "Okay, okay! I'll drop it, for now. And yeah, I like this shirt. It brings out your eyes nicely." She blushed and held out the shirt. "And you can even keep the jacket if you really want, just don't button the shirt all the way up."

Carlton sighed as he took the shirt and headed for the bathroom. "Fine."

"Aw, you're not going to let me watch?" She tried to ask innocently but she couldn't hide her blush.

"No, not when you're already acting weird." Carlton frowned at her as he shut the door.

"Sorry, I'll try to tone it down a bit." Beth sighed as she laid down on the bed again.


	9. Chapter 9

Hey! I'm so sorry that it's been so long but it's been kind of crazy at work and doesn't look like it will be slowing down soon *sigh* Plus, I really like this story and want to make sure that I get everything as close to "perfect" as possible and not have too many mistakes, "continuity errors" or whatever.

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 9

Beth was regaling Carlton with some stories of her trip while they waited for the karaoke to start. She was halfway through a story about Shawn and a dirty diaper when a guy walked up to the stage area and started talking on the microphone. "Welcome everyone to the restaurant at the Ernesto resort. My name is Antonio and I will be your MC tonight! As many of you might be aware, it is karaoke night! Now, we run things slightly different here. When you come up, you get to pick between three randomly selected songs and you have to sing one of those songs. So, who's brave enough to go first…?" Antonio looked eagerly around the room of 20-some people. "No takers? Come on folks, somebody has to go first."

Beth started fidgeting and twisting her hands together nervously. Carlton reached over and covered her hands. "Are you going up?"

"I don't know. Three randomly selected songs? There's a high chance that I won't know any of them."

"But you'll never know unless you try."

Beth bit her lip as Antonio said, "Anyone? Anyone at all? No? Okay, you'll have to listen to me belt out a few songs until someone comes up."

"Wait! I'll do it!" Beth said nervously as she stood up.

"Alright! That's the spirit. Come on down!" Antonio said enthusiastically as he pressed some buttons on the karaoke machine.

"Good luck!" Carlton whispered as Beth slowly made her way down to the front.

"So, what's your name?"

"Beth."

"And are you here on business or pleasure?" Antonio asked suggestively.

"Um." Beth laughed nervously and blushed. "Vacation. With my fiancé. So I guess pleasure."

"Oh, so a lot of pleasure, huh?"

Her blush deepened and she covered her mouth. "Can we um, get to the song selections, please?"

"Sure. Ah and here we go! So, would you like to sing 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' by Brittany Spears, 'Don't Stop Believin' by Journey, or 'Da Club' by 50 cents?"

She laughed nervously, "Well, luckily I can't rap, so not 50 cents. And while Brittany Spears is kind of my teen years, I have to go with Journey since this is karaoke and you have to do this song whenever it comes up."

"Alright then. Ladies and Gentlemen! I present 'Don't Stop Believin' originally by Journey, now preformed by the lovely Miss Beth!"

She ducked her head nervously as she stepped up to the microphone and listened to the intro. Right as she started singing, she looked up and locked eyes with Carlton.

_"Just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world_  
_She took the midnight train goin' anywhere…"_

* * *

Once she finished the song, Carlton went up to the bar to get another drink. The bar tender was a little busy so Carlton sat in one of the stools with his back to the bar while he waited his turn.

Antonio bounded up to the stage before Beth left and quickly grabbed the microphone. "Alright! That was awesome! So, are you up for another one?"

"Oh no. No, I really should let someone else go."

"Just one more song while you're still up here? Please? Come on everybody! Help me convince her! Do it! Do it! Do it!"

She blushed as about half the crowd joined in. Finally, she shook her head as she said, "Okay, fine!"

"Alright! And here are your choices."

"Wow, I really don't like these but I guess I have to go with 'Fallin for you'."

"Great choice. Ladies and gentlemen, 'Fallin for You' by Colbie Caillat."

Beth looked even more nervous than the last song as she looked between the lyrics on the screen and Carlton.

_"I don't know, but I think I may be fallin' for you_  
_Droppin' so quickly, maybe I should keep this to myself_  
_Wait until I know you better_

_"I am tryin' not to tell you, but I want to_  
_I'm scared of what you'll say_  
_So I'm hidin' what I'm feelin'_  
_But I'm tired of holdin' this inside my head_

_"I've been spendin' all my time just thinkin' 'bout you_  
_I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you_  
_I've been waitin' all my life, and now I found you…"_

Halfway through the chorus, a voice behind Carlton said, "Wow, she's really into this song. I wonder if she's just singing it or really singing it."

Carlton rolled his eyes as he recognized the voice. "What does that even mean Spencer?"

"Spencer? Who is this Spencer to which you are referring? I am Ezekiel Northern, a Play-Doh expert from St Louis, Missouri on honeymoon with my lovely new wife, Yvette." Shawn said with a grin as he flopped down next to Carlton.

Carlton raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

"If it was up to me, yes. But sadly, Jules vetoed it. We are Daniel and Nora Cadenza from Wichita, Kansas. Isn't that a fun name? Wichita! Say it with me Carl, Wichita."

Carlton rubbed his forehead and was about to snap at Shawn when the bartender came over and asked for their drink orders. "What can I get for you guys?"

"Two pina coladas, please. Extra pineapple." Shawn smiled.

Carlton rolled his eyes and said, "Another Guinness."

"Okay." The bartender nodded before rushing off.

Once the bartender was out of earshot, Shawn whispered, "Is she okay?"

Carlton frowned as he glanced at Shawn before looking up at Beth. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I've been observing you guys for a while now and she seems a bit nervous."

"She just isn't comfortable with the whole trap."

"No, well maybe. My dad called me earlier and told me that she was acting strange in the car ride to the airport and that I should ask Jules to try to get her to talk."

"She was acting a little odd earlier."

"And if the way she's singing this song is any indication, she might need a little break from you."

Carlton frowned again as he looked back at Beth. She smiled nervously at him as she sang:

_"I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you_  
_I'm fallin' for you"_

She closed her eyes and seemed to get more into the song.

_"I just can't take it, my heart is racin'_  
_Emotions keep spinnin' out"_

Carlton shook his head and sighed, "Spencer…"

"Daniel Cadenza!" Shawn corrected with a grin.

"Cadenza. Will you stop talking in riddles for just one minute and tell me what you mean for once?"

"To put it simply, Carly dear. I think that Beth has feelings for you that are little more than friendship and she wouldn't mind taking things to the next level."

Carlton sighed. "I know. I just don't know how to deal with that."

"Just be yourself. No, scratch that. Be a friendlier, more open version of yourself. It's very unlikely that she'll make the first move so you should probably bring it up yourself. Possibly during a nice romantic dinner by the ocean."

"Cadenza." Carlton growled.

"Yes Carly?"

"Scram."

"But what about my drink?" Shawn pouted.

Carlton looked over to see the bartender coming over with their drinks.

"Fine! Enjoy your night, Carly dear!" Shawn said with a wink and a grin as he took his drinks and sped off.

Carlton rolled his eyes as he picked up his glass and turned back to the stage as Beth finished the song.

_"I can't stop thinkin' 'bout it, I want you all around me_  
_And now I just can't hide it, I think I'm fallin' for you_  
_I'm fallin' for you, oh, oh, oh, no, no, oh, oh, oh, oh_  
_Oh, I'm fallin' for you"_

Beth had a huge smile on her face as she took a step back and nervously brushed her hair back. The crowd broke into applause with some hollering from Shawn. Antonio took the opportunity to come back on stage and give her a side-hug, which she hesitantly returned.

"Wow! That was amazing! I don't think that I've ever seen someone pour so much emotion into their karaoke before. I'm guessing you sing professionally, eh?"

"Sort of. Mainly just in bars like this." Beth started to look uncomfortable and glanced towards Carlton for help.

"I bet your fiancé would love to show you how much he's fallen for you, if you know what I mean?!" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"Yeah…I'm gonna go now." She said nervously as she pulled away from his side.

"Alright. Give it up one more time for Beth!"

Beth covered half her face as she walked over to where Carlton was sitting at the bar. "Oh my gosh, just kill me now," she whispered to Carlton as she took his drink and seemed to gulp down half of it before he took it back from her.

"Hey, you did fine." He rubbed her arm while making sure his glass was out of reach. "Did you want to go now?"

She laughed, "No, as long as we stay hidden away at our table and Antonio doesn't talk to me again, I should be fine."

"Yeah, he was way out of line." Carlton sent a glare in Antonio's direction as he helped the next person pick songs. When she reached for his glass, he pulled it farther away from her and said. "No more alcohol for you tonight."

Beth crossed her arms and pouted for a few seconds. "Fine! But I'm getting dessert now."


	10. Chapter 10

Hey! I'm sorry this is late but life is getting in the way, including some anxiety/panic attacks...

Anyways, YAY new chapter! As soon as I decided that there was going to karaoke, I knew I had to put this next song in...lol

It's a bit slow going for now but hopefully it will pick up in a bit. I've got so many mini plotlines, or whatever they're called, going on right now that it just seems to slow the whole thing down. *sigh* It just means more to read, right?

Okay, enough rambling.

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 10

Around 8pm, Carlton asked, "Can we leave now?"

"What? Are you telling me that you're getting tired of people making fools of themselves?! There haven't even been too many drunken singers yet and they are the best!" Beth looked at him with a pleading face.

"I think I've experienced enough of that in the past 6 months alone to survive without it for one more week at least."

"Fine. It's still kind of early. Do you want to check out some of the places that the victims were last seen?"

Carlton smirked. "Sure. That sounds good."

"Alright." They were halfway to the door when she looked towards the stage and paused. "Hey! Is that Shawn and Juliet?"

Carlton looked up as Antonio said, "Alright, our first duet act! Introducing newlyweds Daniel and Nora Cadenza who will be singing 'Love Shack' by B-52's."

"Oh man, I gotta watch this." Beth said with a grin as she sat down at the nearest table and took out her phone.

Shawn was bouncing happily to the beginning of the song as Juliet laughed nervously. Right before the vocal parts began, Shawn took a deep breath and pulled the microphone closer only to step back at the last second and let Juliet sing: _"If you see a faded sign by the side of the road that says '15 miles to the…"_

_"Love Shack!"_ Shawn sang in a loud, high pitched voice that had the whole place laughing. _"Love Shack yea-ea-eah!"_

"Oh my gosh, this is great! I wish I brought my camera down!" Beth laughed as she took some pictures with her phone.

_"I'm headin' down the Atlanta highway_  
_Lookin' for the love getaway,_  
_heading for the love getaway_

_"I got me a car, it's as big as a whale_  
_And we're headin' on down to the love shack_  
_I got me a Chrysler, it seats about 20_  
_So hurry up and bring your jukebox money_

_"The love shack is a little old place…"_

"You're really going to sit through this?" Carlton said with unease.

"Yes! This is hilarious!"

"Fine. Then I'm gonna go to the restroom and then wait for you out in the hallway."

"No!" She snapped loudly, causing a few people to turn towards them.

Carlton raised an eyebrow, "And why not?"

Beth blushed as she whispered, "What if something happens?"

Carlton sighed when he noticed her barely hidden fear. "I'll be right out, probably less than 2 minutes. If I'm not back by then, call my phone and if I still don't come back, have Spencer check to see if I'm okay."

"Having Shawn check up on you, you must really love me." She laughed nervously.

"Yeah. I'll be right back."

Beth glanced at her watch nervously before looking at his retreating back. Once he disappeared around the corner, she looked at the stage.

_"Sign says, 'Stay away fools'_  
_'Cause love rules at the love shack_

_"Well, it's set way back in the middle of a field_  
_Just a funky old shack and I gotta get back_  
_Glitter on the mattress_  
_Glitter on the highway_  
_Glitter on the front porch_  
_Glitter on the highway…"_

At that point, Juliet was a complete mess of giggles so Shawn had to take over both parts as well as he could, each in a different voice, as well as throwing in some dance moves.

_"Huggin' and a kissin',_  
_dancin' and a lovin'_  
_Wearin' next to nothing,_  
_'cause it's hot as an oven_  
_The whole shack shimmies,_  
_When everybody's movin' around_  
_And around and around and around…"_

As the 2 minute mark approached, Beth opened her phone again and nervously tapped it as she watched the hallway. Once it was past 2 minutes, she counted to ten before hitting her speed dial for him.

It rang three times before he answered, "Yeah, sorry. There was a line. I'm just drying my hands and will be out in a second."

She sighed, "Okay. Just hurry up."

"I am. You need to calm down."

"Sorry but it's my first time experiencing something as scary as this."

"It will be fine, I promise." Carlton said as he came around the corner.

Beth sighed in relief and smiled "Okay." She hung up and waited until he rejoined her before whispering, "I'll try to relax."

"Good. Because this is supposed to be a vacation, right?" He said with a smirk as the crowd laughed again.

_"Your what? Tin roof, rusted!_  
_Love shack, baby, love shack_  
_Love shack, baby, love shack_  
_Love baby that's where it's at, yeah_  
_Love baby that's where it's at_  
_Huggin' and a kissin'_  
_Dancin' and a lovin' at the love shack…"_

When the song was over, Shawn bowed exuberantly while Juliet just nodded as she tried to stop her giggling. Antonio bounded on stage, barely controlling his own laughter, and shook Shawn's hand. "I must say Daniel, that was one of the most entertaining performances I have seen in quite awhile. Care to do another one?"

"I'm sorry Tony, but my lovely new bride and I have some other, more private plans, if you know what I mean." Shawn winked.

Juliet scoffed and smacked Shawn in the arm. "Daniel!"

Antonio laughed, "Alrighty then. You two have fun tonight! So, who wants to go next?"

Beth laughed as she got up from the table. "Come on, let's get going."

"Thank you." Carlton said as he made sure Shawn wasn't following them.

* * *

They walked casually towards the arcade center, although Beth knew that Carlton was watching everyone and everything that they past and if she was humming softly to keep herself calm and listen for strange, sudden noises; well, that was her secret.

"Okay." Carlton said when there was no one else around. "The first victim was last seen entering the arcade and he said he barely remembered that. There was nothing on the cameras showing him leave, willingly or not."

Beth nodded as they approached the entrance and glanced quickly around. "Two cameras, one watching the doors, one the hallway."

"Yeah and two inside, but they have lots of blind spots since they're mainly there to catch fights or vandalism. Many of the games have special lights so the room lights are pretty dim."

"Okay. They close at midnight. When did he come in?" She went towards the drinking fountain so they could have a little more time to talk.

"I believe around 10:30 but I'll have to double check. And nobody comes in or out until it opens at 9am."

"Except the cleaning staff." She said as she got some water.

"What?" Carlton asked a bit surprised.

Wiping her mouth, she stood up and shrugged. "Well, at least I assume the cleaning staff comes in while no one else is in there."

Carlton shook his head. "Right."

"You would never have thought about that, would you?"

"Eventually I might have." He said uneasily.

"Yeah right!" She smiled brightly as she grabbed onto his arm and they entered the arcade. "Oh! They have skeeball and wack-a-mole! Carl dear, can I have some money please?"

Carlton raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "And where is your money?"

"All the way up in our hotel room. You're not going to make me go all the way up there just for $10, are you?"

"Are you really only going to spend $10?"

"Yes. Maybe. I'll try. Please!" She asked, pulling the puppy dog eyes on him.

After a few seconds, Carlton sighed and made his way to the token machine. "$10. Anymore than that and you can march yourself upstairs and get your own damn money."

"Aw, I knew you loved me!" She said sweetly, giving him a kiss on the cheek.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey! *nervous wave* I'm sorry this took so long but I think I've got selective writer's block. As in, I'm only stuck in the chapter that I need to post next but not on several down the road, if that makes any sense. I only have 2-3 chapters left in my other psych fic yet can't finish that one either. *sigh*

Anyways, I forgot to mention two things: this takes place in mid-July and "everyone" knows that Shawn and Juliet are dating by now. I don't think that it would have been like the season 6 episode but they all know. Also a reminder that this series takes place after season 5, probably assuming season 6 hasn't happened, probably won't happen, although I might use some info from season 6 in this...

Hopefully the next chapter will have more fluff/mush/romance and less anxiety/clingyness(?). I don't know...

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 11

Beth was floating on a cloud high above the sea, watching dolphins play. Suddenly, something started shaking her cloud. "No, stop. I'm gonna fall." she mumbled as she tried to move away from the force.

"Only if you keep rolling." A familiar voice said as the shaking continued.

"I told you to stop!" She whined and rolled again, only for her to fall off the bed. "Ow!" She exclaimed as she landed on her elbow.

"I told you to stop rolling." Carlton smirked as he walked over to a chair to put on socks and shoes.

"Yeah yeah yeah." Looking around the room, she asked, "What time is it?"

"7:34."

"AM?! Geeze, you need another crash course in vacation taking. Rule #1, you always sleep in, at least until 9, preferably noon."

"Does that mean you're going back to sleep? Because I was thinking of going to the fitness center, especially since that was the place the third victim was seen before abduction."

"*sigh* Fine, I'll go with you. Just give me 10 minutes to get changed."

"Okay." Carlton nodded as he pulled the case file out. After a minute, he looked over to see her still sitting on the floor. "I thought you were getting up?"

"I am. I'm just trying to prepare myself mentally." He laughed and turned back to the files. It was about three more minutes before she finally got up and went to her luggage. "You have five minutes," he commented as she trudged to the bathroom.

"Shove it." Beth mumbled as she shut the door. Carlton raised an eyebrow and laughed quietly.

* * *

As the elevator descended, Carlton started, "The third victim went..."

"Do you have to call them victims? It sounds so morbid and they did all survive." Beth yawned.

"Fine. The third person went to the gym late-morning while his wife was at the spa all day. They agreed to meet up for dinner around 5 so the last time she saw him was when they got off the elevator around 10:30. According to the cameras, he spent about 2 hours on various machines before heading to the locker room around 12:45, and they don't see him leaving."

"So you're gonna check out the locker room by yourself?"

"Yeah. But I figured that I could get some exercise first so anyone watching doesn't get suspicious." He replied as the elevator doors opened and they walked out.

"Okay. *yawn* I guess I can waste an hour while you workout."

"Without looking suspicious?"

"Yep."

"Alright." They rounded the corner and entered the fitness center, Carlton holding the door open for her.

Beth stretched her arms as she looked around. "So where are you going?"

"Treadmills. I usually take a 30 min jog every morning anyways."

"Okay." She glanced at the treadmills before walking over to the stationary bikes. She crossed her arms over the handlebars and put her head on top, all while lazily pedaling. Carlton shook his head as he got on a treadmill.

* * *

After about 40 minutes, when Carlton was about to stop, Beth groaned as she lifted one of her arms and pulled out her phone. She straightened when she saw the caller id and answered quickly. Carlton was too far away to hear the conversation so he got off the treadmill and made his way over.

"...Yeah. Monday morning?... 10am?... Great, I will be there. Thank you very much!... You too. Bye." Beth had a big smile on her face as she hung up. When she saw Carlton, she squealed, "I got the house!"

"Oh. Congratulations. Which one?"

Beth laughed, "The one a few minutes from your house. The people who were going to rent it had to go out of state for a family emergency and I was next on the list! They still have a few things to do, like checking windows and replacing carpets, but I can move in as soon as Wednesday! Isn't that awesome!"

"Yeah. It means I can finally have my house to myself again and not have to worry about cat fur on my suits."

She smiled, "Yeah. I mean, I feel bad for the other people but this was my favorite house! A mile from your house, 5 minute drive to work, and a decent sized fenced-in backyard for my dog to run in. It is at the edge of my price range but I'll manage. I'm so excited! I'm gonna call Suz!" She smiled as she flipped opened her phone.

Carlton shook his head. "Okay. I'm going to check out the locker room."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "What?! No! I mean, let me go with you."

"There are separate locker rooms for men and women. They're not going to let you in."

"Who isn't? The teenager behind the desk?" Beth leaned forward and whispered, "Besides, they would just think that we went in for a quickie, if you know what I mean." She smiled slyly as she blushed and ran a hand lightly on his chest.

Carlton coughed nervously and he took a step back. "W-we will get in trouble."

"No we won't since we won't technically be doing anything. Besides, the manger knows that we're undercover, so you can explain to him that you were just investigating and thought you could use an extra set of eyes."

He sighed, "How about you go into the ladies' locker room and call my phone. Although I was hoping to get a shower in."

"Okay. But as long as we keep in constant contact."

"Even when I'm in the shower?"

"Especially when you're in the shower." She said with smirk.

Carlton shook his head as he picked up his bag and headed for the locker rooms. "You are definitely something special."

"Aww, I love you too, Carl!" Beth called across the room, causing a few people to look their way.

Carlton ignored them and continued walking. Before entering the locker room, he looked back and saw Beth slowly making her way off and still yawning.

* * *

Carlton had just set his bag on a bench when his cell phone went off. Before he could say anything, Beth cut him off. _"So, have you found anything yet?"_

"I just got in here, did you really expect me find something 10 days after the fact?"

_"No…Well, do we know anything besides the approximate time he entered the locker room?"_

"He had a locker. The lock was missing but, according to the wife, nothing else was missing."

_"Besides her husband."_

"Obviously." Carlton said as he walked over to the locker number in the case file. "The locker doesn't seem to have been tampered with. I'm going to look around and see if there are any signs of a struggle."

_"Okay. Call me back in one minute."_

* * *

Carlton looked all over the locker room but did not find anything out of the ordinary, not that he expected to after so long. With a sigh, he took his phone out and was about to call Beth when his phone rang. Rolling his eyes, he answered with, "Yeah."

_"Dude! That was almost 3 whole minutes! Why do you like worrying me?"_

"I'm not doing it on purpose. My phone lost a signal for a few seconds so I kept looking while I waited. I didn't find anything, by the way."

_"I guess I can forgive you for that. So, are you coming out soon?"_

"After I take a shower."

_"A quick one, please!"_

Carlton rolled his eyes. "Fine. I will call you back in 10 minutes. If after 12 minutes I don't call, you call me and only after 15 are you allowed to enter the locker room."

_"Ooo, now I'm allowed to enter the locker room? But what will people think?"_

"Only if it's an emergency!" Carlton blushed slightly.

Beth laughed, _"Okay, okay. So, 10 minutes after you hang up?"_

"Yes. I will even set my alarm for 8 minutes so I'm out of the shower in time."

_"Alright. Be careful!"_

"I always am." Carlton shook his head as he set his alarm before grabbing what he needed and headed for the showers.

* * *

Carlton took a quick 5-minute locker room shower and was drying off when his alarm went off. Once he got his pants and shirt on, he called Beth. "Hey."

_"Wow, impressive. That was exactly 10 minutes! Well, give or take 5 seconds."_

Carlton sighed as he packed his gym bag. "Were you really counting me?"

_"Maybe. Hey! I was concerned."_

"I'll be right out."

_"So is that in the next 30 seconds or in the few minutes."_

He shook his head and sat down to tie his shoes. "Within a minute."

_"Good. Because you still owe me breakfast. Waking me up at 6am to go to the gym while we are on vacation. How dare you do that without feeding me first!"_

"Technically it was 7:30 and you didn't have to come with me. You could have gone back to sleep."

_"Like I would have let you out of my site for more than a few minutes! Whatever, what's done is done. Now hurry up so we can go eat! It's about 9:30, which means we will be in the middle of the morning rush."_

"Isn't the morning rush between 7:30 and 9?"

_"Not when you're on vacation at a resort on the weekend. Trust me. I've been to enough hotels and motels in the past year to know when the morning rush is."_

Carlton shook his head as he left the locker room. "Fine, let's go."

Beth smiled when she saw him. "Yay!" She quickly closed her phone and hooked unto his arm. "I was thinking of trying their Banana Foster French Toast. Doesn't that sound yummy?"

Carlton smiled as he led the way out of the fitness center. "Yeah, that sounds good."


	12. Chapter 12

Yay! Updating less than a month after the last chapter! Lol. Sorry. I should post more ofter after Christmas, when I'll have a 11 day break and then a steady work schedule. Next chapter is kind of...not even half written. I've got the beginning and end, but not the middle, which seems to happen to me a lot...

Alright, enough rambling. I don't think that I wrote this chapter...good enough(?) but I don't really know how else to fix it.

So, Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 12

"Thanks again, Carlton." Beth said as they guided the horse down the path.

Carlton shrugged as he looked at the map in his hand. "No problem. I know how much you like to ride."

She smirked at him and raised an eyebrow, "You do, huh?"

He glanced at her. "Well, every time we go for a ride, you always want to stay longer and never want to get off." Beth choked back a laugh, causing Carlton to frown. "What?"

"N-nothing. You wouldn't think that it was funny." She shook her head and looked around. "So, where are we headed?"

"Where the second vict…ah, person was supposed to have gone. It is a quiet lookout place, a well-known tourist spot. The police checked it and the two paths that lead to it but couldn't find any evidence."

She nodded as they neared a bend in the road. "And you think that we will find something?"

"Not really. It happened almost three weeks ago and there's a lot of ground to cover, so the odds of us finding anything significant is very slim."

"Oh, how wrong you are, Lassie!" They heard from up ahead of them. Beth's face lit up as they rounded the bend and found Shawn and Juliet standing near a tree.

Carlton sighed as they stopped their horses. "Should I even bother asking what you are doing here?"

"Investigating, of course!" Shawn smiled as he crouched down and stared intently at the ground.

Carlton rolled his eyes. "I mean, why are you at this spot? The lookout point is still about a quarter-mile from here."

"Because, dear Lassie, we went to lookout point first and then I had a psychic vision that lead us back to this tree. Aha! Now that is what I call evidence!"

"What is that?" Juliet asked as she crouched next to him. Carlton frowned as he got off his horse, handing the reins to Beth.

"That, my dear Jules, is a shirt button and, if I'm not mistaken, it matches the shirt Tommy Hanks was wearing when he was last seen and found."

"His name is Tom Hankinson." Carlton corrected as he knelt close.

"I've heard it both ways."

Carlton snapped a picture with his phone before taking out a plastic evidence bag and carefully picked the button up. "Adequate work, Spencer."

Shawn shook his head as he stood out of the way. "Wow, thanks Lassie. Would it kill you to give a proper compliment? I mean, do you see how small that is?"

Beth laughed. "What I want to know is why Carlton has evidence bags in his coat?"

"Oh! Excellent point, Beth!"

Carlton shrugged as he stood up and held the button up into the light. "What? We are on a case. Evidence can pop up anywhere." Juliet and Beth both laughed. "So Spencer did you see any more evidence or divine more details?"

"Let's see..." Shawn closed his eyes and held some fingers to his head. "Tommy made it to lookout point okay, even did the traditional name on the wood railing, although he used a high school nickname. Then he casually made his way down the path. He...tripped over a tree branch. No, he thought it was a tree branch. It might have been a cane or broom or metal pole. He bumped his head and was a bit disoriented as he stood back up. Someone quickly placed a cloth over his mouth, probably chloroform, and pushed him against the tree." Shawn started wavering back and forth, bumping into Carlton who pushed him away. "He struggled but was already feeling a bit out of it. He tried grabbing onto anything within reach, mainly the trees and his shirt. He tore his own shirt before passing out. There were either two people or one really big person, for Tommy was carried out, not dragged. They started heading for the hotel but I...don't know if that was their destination." Shawn gasped as he let his hand drop and opened his eyes.

Juliet, who had been writing down key points, broke the silence. "Wow, that was a lot more information than the local police gathered."

"Well, sometimes the spirits like to be more cooperative at times." Shawn smiled.

"I'll let the chief know about this development right away so she can contact the locals." Carlton said as he opened his phone.

"Do you have to?" Beth whined. "Mr. Hanks...um, Tommy, Tom has already been found and it's not like a shirt button that's been sitting out in the elements is going to reveal who the kidnappers are."

"That may be so, but it's still evidence and any delay in reporting it could mess up the whole case." Carlton cleared his throat as he talked into his phone. "Chief, it's Lassiter...Yes. Well, I've, I mean Spencer has found some new evidence...Well, it's a shirt button, also the possible abduction site of the second victim...yes...of course...thank you." He hung up and looked at Spencer. "She will let the sheriff know and suggests that one of us stays behind to guide the locals."

Shawn nodded as he took a few steps back. "Alright, have fun waiting Lassie."

"I believe that you will be doing the waiting, Spencer."

"What? You think Jules and I have nothing better to do than hang out in the woods all day?"

"You made the discovery, so it's your responsibility."

"But you're head detective! You should make sure that nothing goes wrong."

"As head detective, I get to assign tasks, including the less desirable ones."

"Technically, I'm a consultant, so you can't boss me around."

"You are employed by the department, which means you are under my command."

"Command? Lassie, I am a free spirit and do not take commands."

"Then I will be sure to let the chief know when we get back about how you feel."

"HEY! Enough with the pissing match!" Beth shouted.

Shawn stared at her with wide eyes before giving a low whistle. "Whoa, look what you did, Lassie! I don't think I've ever seen her snap like that."

Carlton shook his head. "Except when she's with her family."

"True that."

Beth rubbed her forehead before asking, "Shawn, can you please do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Can you stay here, please? We only have these horses for 3 hours and the time is almost halfway over and I really want to enjoy it. I'll buy you a pineapple smoothie everyday for a week if you do."

Shawn's face lit up as he replied, "Oh, you know me so well! Yes I will, because you asked so nicely."

"Thanks Shawn." Beth smiled as she turned the horses around. "Come on Carly."

Carlton sent Beth a glare as he went over to his horse. "What have I told you about nicknames?"

"Well, I could call you sugar or sweetums or Carly-poo."

"Fine. Nothing worse than Carly." Carlton grumbled as he mounted his horse.

"No problem!" Beth smirked as she gave Shawn a wink. "Have fun Shawn."

"You too! I'll see you at the bonfire!" Shawn waved and grabbed Juliet's hand to dance to an invisible beat.

Beth giggled as Carlton asked, "Bonfire?"

"Yeah, the resort is having a bonfire tonight. I think it starts at 7 and they will have various barbeque foods and, if my source is correct, s'mores!"

Carlton shook his head, "Of course you would be excited for s'mores."

"What?! They are like the perfect summer treats, behind ice cream of course! Also, I like to catch the marshmallow on fire and watch as the fire slowly engulfs it before blowing it out."

"Of course you would be a pyro."

"Hey! I've never lit anything dangerous on fire! Except the occasionally paper so I can watch the fire spread."

"Like I said, pyro."

Beth laughed as they continued down the path.


	13. Chapter 13

Hi! *nervous wave* Wow, I can't believe that it's been 2 months since I last updated this story. I feel so bad. But this chapter wasn't flowing as nicely as the others, I finally finished my other fanfic, and I've been super busy since switching to full-time hours (YAY!) which, combined with all the extra stuff I do at church and home, wears me out. So I actually cut this chapter in half and added a bit in the middle, well more than a bit. I actually had the last scene in this chapter written out since the summer, and am so happy that I finally got to it!

Anyways, I'm working on the next chapter, but I don't like how wimpy my character is at times. So hopefully I'll get it fixed and posted by next weekend, definitely by the end of February :D

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 13

"20 bucks each for hamburgers and hot dogs? That's insane." Carlton shook his head as they waited in line to pay and enter the event area.

Beth patted his arm and ignored his growl when she said, "Carly dear, it's a buffet of flame grilled hamburgers, hotdogs and various sides. I'm a little surprised that it's so low, being a resort and all."

"You do have to pay more for beer."

"Still not too bad." She smiled at the hotel attendant when it was their turn. "Hi! So two people plus um...let's say 5 beer vouchers please!"

"Alright, that will be $60." Carlton growled slightly as he handed over the money. The attendant looked a little hesitant to take the money but one look at Beth's smile convinced him to continue. "Thank you very much. Now the wristbands entitle you to anything on the tables under the white tents including hamburgers, hotdogs, salad, fruit, cupcakes, and, when it gets darker, marshmallows."

"Sweet!" Beth exclaimed as she put a wristband on. "I love s'mores."

"Most people do. And you must use pre-purchased vouchers for the beer, which is at the light blue tent. The vouchers can be purchased until 10pm and it is a limit of six beers per person, which will be marked on your wristband at the beer tent. Anyone found to be overly intoxicated will be asked to leave the beach."

"Alright, good to know. Let's go Carl. Thank you!" She smiled at the attendant as she grabbed Carlton's arm and headed for the food table.

* * *

Beth found a spot near engaged couple, Cindy and Stanley, that they had met at breakfast the previous morning and it was not long before the topic of weddings came up.

"But it's so hard, you know? You want to plan as much stuff as you can ahead of time but we haven't figured out how many people to invite so we don't know how big of a place to book." Cindy sighed as she sat between Stanley's legs. "Although we were also thinking about having the reception on the beach but then what happens if it rains? Do we rent a giant tent just in case? Sometimes I think that it's just better to elope."

Beth laughed as she stole one of Carlton's chips, who glared in return. Ignoring him, she replied. "Well, you know they say that it's the bride's day, so plan it however you want it. If you want the reception at a small venue, then explain to people that it's the place that you want. My suggestion then is to make sure that the actual wedding ceremony is big enough for everyone. Some people might not want to go to the reception or aren't able to clear a whole day. I, personally, am not a party person and usually don't go to receptions unless they're close friends or family. For relatives, I only go because I know that my siblings will be there to socialize with."

"Then what are your plans for your wedding, if don't mind me asking." Cindy asked.

"Well, Carl and I haven't really discussed much, except thinking of a winter wedding back home; because I love snow and would love taking pictures in it. But I've always had the idea of a…unconventional wedding. I mean, it would be a traditional service at my home church but with few decorations. I want a simple dress, probably full-length since it would winter, a small bouquet, and my hair done simply, nothing too extravagant. I want to look beautiful while still looking like my 'natural' self. I want the reception to be informal; basically a party. Keeping with the unconventional-ness, I would probably have the wedding on a weeknight, like a Wednesday, and then have the party the next night. Although, to make my family and the older generations somewhat happy, I'll have a small formal dinner after the wedding for them." Silence reigned in their little group for a bit before Beth shook her head and looked down, slightly embarrassed. "Sorry, that must sound weird or something."

"No, that sounds nice." Carlton said.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Of course, my fiancé would be free to change it up a bit. If I'm planning on wearing a simple wedding dress, I don't expect him to be in a 5 piece tux."

"Tuxedos are not 5 pieces. It's just the pants, jacket, and bowtie, although there is also usually a cummerbund."

"Well, with the shirt, it's 5 pieces. So I would expect him to wear something semi-formal, definitely a bit nicer than his work clothes. Although bowties are cool."

Carlton raised an eyebrow at her grin. "A Doctor Who reference. Really?"

"Yep. But you've gotta admit, they are a bit nicer than regular ties, depending on the fabric design."

"Whatever you say, honey." Carlton said with a shake of his head.

"Awww! You're learning already!" Beth ruffled his hair playfully.

He swatted her hand away. "Behave."

"Never!" Beth said before swiping his watermelon slice and stuffing it in her mouth so only the peel was showing.

Carlton shook his head as Cindy and Stanley laughed. Stanley said, "You definitely have your hands full, mate. Good luck."

Beth grinned widely at Carlton before taking it out and eating it. "It's only because you told me to stop that I kept going. You should know by now that I don't like being told what to do."

* * *

As the sun was setting, Beth stood up and pulled Carlton with her. "Come on, let's go swimming!"

"I don't swim."

"Why not?"

"I just don't."

"Is it because you don't know how? I find that hard to believe because there has to be a law somewhere that says that all Californians must know how to swim." Carlton just stared at her. "What? Did I not rub the sunscreen in all the way?"

"Where the hell do you come up with these things?"

"I don't know, it just comes to me in the moment."

Carlton shook his head as she continued to pull him forward. "Will you stop?! People are starting to stare!" He whispered.

Beth stopped and moved closer as a sly smile appeared on her face. "They're staring, huh?"

"Yes!"

"Well then, maybe we should give them something to stare at."

Carlton frowned, "What are you...?" He started, only to be stopped by Beth capturing his lips in a forceful kiss. He froze and just stood there as she continued.

She pulled apart just far enough to whisper, "We're supposed to be engaged! Stop acting like I'm assaulting you!"

"You are assaulting me!"

"Carlton! You're going to blow our cover!" She glared at him.

With a sigh, he gave a subtle nod before pulling her flush against him and giving a very passionate kiss. He felt her smile into the kiss before giving him just as much. He could barely hear the others cheering and whistling.

When they pulled apart, she looked stunned. "What?" Carlton asked with concern.

"I um, well I mmm." She blushed and looked down.

He frowned. "Are you okay? You're not having heat stroke or something?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No, it's just..."

"Just what?"

She smiled and looked back up. "It's just that I forgot what a good kisser you are."

Now it was Carlton's turn to blush and look away.

"Stop talking and kiss her again!" They heard Shawn shout. Carlton turned to glare at him and, while he was distracted, Beth quickly pulled him the last five feet to the shore and into the water.


	14. Chapter 14

Sorry again! I seem to be apologizing a lot lately. I've actually had this written since I posted the last chapter but was trying to figure out how to make my character less...wimpy? I don't know. I've been really off my game about a lot of things lately, maybe I'm not cut out to work full time in a daycare center. *sigh*

Anyways, I hope this chapter isn't too...boring(?), annoying(?). I should have more time to work on the next couple chapters this month. We're coming to the first climax of the story, which I have already written out, I just have to edit it and finish the chapter(s) before it.

So enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 14

Beth laughed as they came up for air. "Wasn't that refreshing?"

Carlton coughed up water and stood "No! That was stupid! There are million things in the ocean and we could have hit out heads on something or gotten caught in a rip current."

"Ugh! Why do you always have to be such a party popper?!" She splashed water at him before making her way onto shore.

"I'm the party pooper?!" He exclaimed as he followed her. "You're the one who didn't think this through! I've lost my wallet and my phone! I'll be lucky if I find them at all!"

"Relax! I took them out of your pockets and put them in my purse before we even got up and stashed my purse by Juliet."

"What about the tracking devices? They're not exactly waterproof."

"Oh, oops."

"It's going to take at least a day to get new ones."

"Sorry." She ran a hand through her hair. "Can't we just put them in a bowl of rice? It works with cell phones."

Carlton shook his head. "Maybe, it depends if salt or other minerals got inside. I'll ask housekeeping for some rice but it will probably be easier to just ask the chief to send new ones."

"I'm sorry I screwed up, again!" She threw her arms up into the air and turned towards the ocean. Carlton sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder, noticing her shivering. "You didn't screw up."

"Yes I did, I always screw up."

"No you don't."

"And how the hell would you know!" She spun around to face him. "I've only known you for what? 6 months?! You don't know my life story or all the stupid stuff I've done!"

"I know that you've done a lot of good things in your life. What about your pets? You didn't screw them up."

Beth laughed sadly, "Yes I did. The first year I had Frisco, he got sick but I didn't have enough money to take him to the vet. So instead of asking for help right away, I waited almost 3 months to take him, and I still feel like a horrible owner for that. I cried at the vet's office for my stupidity and almost asked my mother to take him."

"But you didn't, you kept him and he seems to be fine now."

"That's only one example; I can give you dozens, hundreds of others! I should just go home so I don't screw this case up even more." She shook her head and started heading for the hotel.

Carlton reached out and grabbed her arm. "Just, just wait a minute!"

"No, let go of me." She tried to shake him off.

"Not until you listen to me." He held on tighter.

Beth started struggling, "No!"

"Beth!"

"No! Let go of me Fred!"

Carlton let go as soon as the words were out of her mouth and Beth fell to the sand. "I, I'm sorry. I didn't, didn't mean to..."

She slowly stood up, shaking her head. "No, I-I. I um." She looked around the beach, anywhere but at him. "I have to go."

"Beth." Carlton called as she turned and walked away, this time away from the fire, towards the forest. "Damnit!" He whispered.

"What happened?" Juliet asked as she suddenly appeared next to him.

Carlton tried to hide his surprise but knew he failed when Juliet smiled. He sighed, "I honestly don't know."

"Well, you better go after her."

"She doesn't want to talk to me right now."

"I don't care what she wants! I do not want anything happening to her. Tell her it was my fault and that I forced you to at least bring her back to the hotel room. That way we know where she is." She handed him two beach towels.

Carlton growled, "Fine."

"Good. Here is Beth's purse as well. Good luck." Juliet smiled before leaving him alone.

Shaking his head, Carlton started after Beth. She had gotten halfway to the trees before sitting down. As he got closer, he could hear her crying. When he was about 10 feet away and she had not turned around yet, he called out, "Beth? Are you okay?"

She gasped in surprised and shook her head.

"Do you want to talk?"

She shook her head again and gasped out, "H-help m-m-me."

Carlton frowned as he hurried closer. "What's wrong?"

"C-c-can't b-b-b*gasp* bre-ath." She was holding her chest with one hand and gripping her jeans in the other.

"You're just having a panic attack and need to calm down." He knelt down next to her and rubbed her back.

"I, I-I-I c-can't *gasp*"

"Yes you can." He pulled her up against him and held her tight, ignoring her flinch. "Just try to match my breathing. In and out. In and out, you can do it."

Eventually her breathing evened out but her tears did not stop. His legs were cramping up so Carlton started to move. But Beth held his arms in place. "Don't leave."

"I won't."

She turned her head sideways to look at him and their faces were inches apart. Subconsciously, they moved closer and kissed, this time slower and cautious. Noticing that they were both shivering, Carlton pulled back slightly and ended the kiss. "This is a bad idea."

"Says who?"

"Me. We're both cold and wet and are not thinking clearly."

"I'm thinking just fine."

"No, you just had a panic attack and your emotions are a bit…out of alignment right now."

Beth laughed. "Out of alignment?! I guess that's one way of putting it."

"Plus, we're in the middle of a case, which is never a good time to start something."

She sighed, "Fine. Let's get back to the fire. I still haven't had my s'mores yet."

Carlton shook his head as he stood up. "You are definitely not like anyone else that I've ever met."

A ghost of a smile crossed her lips, "Thanks."

"What? No witty comeback?"

"Nah, I'm too cold to think of one. Maybe after I burn some marshmallows." She stood up and he wrapped a towel around her.

"Eating burnt food is not good for you."

"There are a lot of foods that I eat that aren't good for me. Besides, I only do it ever so often and it's so cool holding the marshmallow like a torch and watching the flame slowly engulf the whole thing."

"*sigh* As long as you don't catch anyone or anything on fire."

"I'll try not to." Beth smirked. Carlton just shook his head as they returned to the bonfire.


	15. Chapter 15

Hey, look at that! I'm being semi-constant in posting! This probably won't last long, although I do have the next few chapters mainly written.

There's one spot where it looks like I missed spelled the word captain, but I was trying to spell it phonetically(?) of someone saying it silly? I don't know...

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 15

_She was running through a forest as fast as she could and somehow managed not to trip or bump into any of the trees. When she came across a clearing, she stopped to catch her breath. As she was deciding which direction to go next, someone grabbed her by the arm and spun her around._

_"Carlton!" She gasped as she took a good look at him. He had a bleeding wound on his forehead and a gaping hole in his gut._

_He looked at her with tired eyes and said, "You didn't save me."_

_"No! I tried, I swear I tried!"_

_"You did nothing! So now, you must join me." He moved his hands to her neck and started squeezing._

_"No! Stop!" She cried as she tried to push him away but her hands went straight through his chest._

Beth sat up with a gasp and placed one of her hands on her throat. When a hand touched her arm, she shot off the bed and across the room.

"Whoa, Beth. It's just me. It's Carlton." He said as he turned on a lamp. Beth's eyes traveled all around the room and up and down his body as she took deep breaths.

Frowning, Carlton slowly got off the bed. "Beth? What's wrong?"

"I, I um, I-I-I had a bad dream."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head while taking a few steps closer. She hesitantly placed a hand on his chest and felt his heartbeat while her other hand lifted up his shirt slightly and checked his stomach.

"Are you sure? You seem pretty shaken up."

"I'm fine. It wasn't real, so why bother rehashing it?"

"Are you sure?" She nodded. "Okay. Do you want to try to get more sleep? It's about 3:20."

"Yeah, okay." She dropped her hands and sat on the bed with her back against the headboard and knees to her chest. Carlton walked to the other side of the bed and sat down slowly. He was about to turn off the light when Beth grabbed his arm and whispered, "Wait!"

"What?"

"Can we um, can we cuddle? I'm really shaken up right now and can use the extra comfort."

Seeing how close she was to freaking out, Carlton nodded, "Sure."

"Thanks." She smiled shakily and laid down.

Carlton turned off the light and laid down as well. Beth quickly turned over and laid her head over his heart with a hand clutching his shirt. With a sigh, Carlton wrapped an arm around her and pulled the blanket up. "Everything is going to be fine."

"I know." Beth whispered. "I just can't wait until this case is over."

* * *

Carlton checked his watch again. He was supposed to meet Juliet in 10 minutes at the security office to check the tracking devices, but Beth wasn't awake yet. After last night, he figured she could use as much sleep as she could get, but she wouldn't appreciate him leaving while she was sleeping.

Sighing, he squatted down and shook her shoulder. "Beth. Beth, can you wake up for a minute?" She sighed and rolled away from him, eyes still closed. "You are going to fall off the bed. Again."

Beth groaned and mumbled something into the pillow.

Carlton shook his head. "What did you say?"

She turned her head and opened her eyes slightly. "Whatcha want?"

"I'm meeting O'Hara in…" He checked his watch. "8 minutes. Would you like to come with me or stay here and sleep?"

"Sleep." Beth replied as she turned her head away from him and tried to get comfortable.

"Alright. I should be back in an hour, maybe longer."

"Kay." She mumbled.

Carlton shook his head and checked his pockets as he made for the door. "I'll see you later." Getting no response, he opened the door and left.

As he was getting in the elevator, Carlton's phone went off. Checking it, he found a text from Beth. "_b back or text n 1hr._"

"_Copy that_." He replied. He got another text as the elevator reached the lobby. Stepping off to the side of the elevators, he read: "_If u can't read, I won't repeat myself :D_"

"_Smartass._" Carlton replied only to get another text. "_Shh, sleeping._" Chuckling, he headed for the security office.

"Morning Carlton." Juliet greeted him as he entered. "What are you so happy about?"

"Who says that I'm happy?" Carlton frowned.

"You're smiling. Genuinely smiling, and that only happens when you're really happy."

"I'm not. If anything, I'm relieved that Beth seems to be doing better this morning. After last night, I was afraid that she might want to leave the case or even stick closer to me than before."

"Well then," Juliet smiled. "I'm relieved too! Anyways, did you bring the tracking devices?"

"Of course," Carlton replied as he pulled out the plastic bag holding the two devices smaller than bottle caps.

"Good." Juliet took them as she opened a program on her laptop. "Shawn should be here any minute and we'll have him roam the resort."

"I hope he doesn't take too long. All I've had so far is coffee and would like to get something more filling."

"Not to worry, Lassie!" Shawn announced as he entered the room with a paper bag and three cups. "I come bearing gifts of pastry goodness! I'm only late because the coffee shop was surprisingly busy for 7 in the morning. Like really, the only people who should up so early on a Saturday are public service workers and all night diner people."

"What about baristas?" Carlton asked as he gladly accepted a cinnamon roll.

"They are workers providing a public service, duh Lassie!"

"Why don't we get started?" Juliet interrupted as she handed Shawn one of the tracking devices.

"Aye, aye Capiton!" Shawn said with a salute before leaving the room with his pineapple smoothie.

Carlton shook his head as he took a seat. "I'm surprised that he's awake let alone hyper this early in the morning."

"He usually gets up before me, no matter how late we stay up." Juliet shrugged as she activated the tracking program.

* * *

When Carlton returned to their room 40 minutes later, Beth was still sleeping. With a sigh, he sat down at the desk and pulled out the case file. He figured it couldn't hurt to look over it again since they haven't had any luck so far. Unless something happens in the next 30 hours, they would have to come up with another plan.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, an alarm went off. Carlton watched as Beth reached a hand over and hit a button on her phone. With a groan, she lifted her head and looked around the room. When she saw Carlton, she let her head fall back onto the pillow. "You're back."

"Appears so." He replied. Conversations with Beth when she has just woken up are usually the most entertaining.

"Good." She closed her eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, Carlton asked, "Are you getting up?"

"What time is it?"

"A little after 8."

She moaned and pulled the blanket over her head. "Wake me around noon."

"I thought you wanted to go sight-seeing today?"

"Fine. 10:30. Sleeping now."

Carlton just shook his head and decided to take a shower.


	16. Chapter 16

Hi! *nervous wave* Sorry, it's been a long month and this was one of those "filler chapters" that I always seem to have trouble with. But the good news is that I've had the next few chapters typed since August and they only need a bit of work. The bad news is that the next few weeks are going to be pretty busy as well so I might not have time to work on them :( I really shouldn't wait so long between posting updates because I keep forgetting things.

Thanks for sticking with this story! I have so many stories I want to work on but life keeps getting in the way. *sigh* I also apologize if I don't reply to any comments because I tend to forget stuff and before I know it, it's been a month and I don't want to bug them with a review...

Anyways, Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 16

"Wasn't that cool?!" Beth asked as they drove back to the resort.

Carlton nodded his head. "I'll admit, the views of the surrounding countryside was interesting, but I'm not sure that it was worth driving over an hour and a half; going on the tours that were $50 each, plus $30 for lunch at their restaurant."

"Oh come on! It wasn't that bad! Plus, we are on a police assignment, so the department should be reimbursing you."

"Only for reasonable expenses. I don't think that this $130 trip will be reasonable."

"It depends on how you explain it. We can't stay at the hotel all day and had to go out and do something, so we decided to check out this castle. It's a perfectly legitimate excuse!"

Carlton sighed. "Maybe I can ask for half of it back or something."

"Yes! Win one for me! At this rate, we're going to have you breaking the law by Christmas!"

"What?!" Carlton asked as Beth's phone rang.

She smirked at him as she checked the caller id. Seeing who it was, her smile brightened and she quickly answered. "Hey Suz! Are you having fun without me?"

_"I was about to ask you the same thing, Lizzie! And yes I am! I met this really cute guy last night and we really hit it off. We sat at the bar for hours talking and playing darts."_

"Aw! And what's his name?"

_"Marcus. He's 32 years old, about 6 feet tall, short brown hair, and coaches youth soccer!"_

"Wow, he does seem perfect for you." Beth replied as she turned the radio on and started flipping through stations.

_"I know! He invited me to a pick-up soccer game today but I don't have my cleats! Or shin guards for that matter."_

"When is the game?"

_"In 2 hours! I have tennis shoes but they will slow me down."_

"Better than bare feet! And go to the store for shin guards."

_"Are you telling me that you don't have any that I can borrow?"_

"I haven't played in over a year so they're in storage. Just go to Target, they only cost like 10, 20 dollars tops."

_"Yeah, but that's $20 less that I get to spend on take-out!"_

"How will you ever survive?!" Beth laughed as she gave up on the radio and pulled out her Ipod.

_"I have no idea!"_

"Well, when we get back, I'll be sure to buy a few meals."

_"You better! Anyways, I need to get going if I want to shower before going to the store."_

"But you're going to be playing soccer and getting sweaty!"

_"So? I still want to smell nice when I accidentally run into him or he has to help me up after I fall and twist my ankle."_

"You better not twist your ankle! I've been to the hospital enough for the both of us this past year."

_"I'll try not to end up there. Although if I do, I should be released before you even get back."_

Beth tsked at that. "You are so unbelievable sometimes."

_"Thanks! I'll see ya tomorrow, right?"_

"*sigh* Right. See ya." Shaking her head, Beth put her phone away and turned the volume up. "So Carlton, are you ready for the rockin' road trip play list again?"

Carlton sighed and shook his head. "If I say no, would you turn on something calmer?"

"Nope. But I might turn the volume down."

"Whatever you want is fine, as long as it isn't too loud."

"Your wish is my command!" Beth smirked as she turned the volume up all the way.

It took all of Carlton's police training to not jerk the wheel and keep the car straight. He quickly reached over and turned the volume down. "That's wasn't funny, we could have crashed!"

"Dude, the closest car to us is like a quarter mile ahead and this is a big empty highway. It would have taken something more dramatic like me jerking the wheel away from you, in order for us to crash, not that I would do such a thing."

"If you ever even attempt that, you will be permanently confined to the back seat, that's if I let you anywhere near my car again."

Beth blew a raspberry at him. "Party Pooper!"

"Juvenile." Carlton countered back.

"Hey! I'm not a juvenile; I just like to have fun. Stop raining on my parade."

"Maybe you should have fewer parades and more picnics."

"Was that a joke? Because it kind of felt like one. I'm not even sure what you mean by that."

"It means you need to stop drawing attention to yourself and learn to sit back and enjoy watching others."

"That…was very profound of you. What happened to my Carly Bear?"

"I can shot you right now, maybe even push you out of the car without stopping."

She looked a little hurt before quickly turning her head and looking out the window. "Ouch! I must be getting on your nerves."

Carlton rubbed his eyes as he thought of what to saw. "You're not, it's just this assignment has had a lot more speed bumps than expected and I guess it's just getting to me."

"That's not really an apology but I accept it anyways. Oh! I love this song!" Beth quickly turned up the music, which Carlton knew was a sign that the conversation was over, especially since that was one of her 'everything is overwhelming and I need to clear my head' songs. Flexing his hands on the steering wheel, Carlton tried to think of ways to make it up to her once this assignment was over.

* * *

"Come on Carlton! I want to go dance!" Beth practically whined.

Carlton sighed as he came out of their hotel room bathroom and buttoned his shirt. "I thought you didn't dance?"

"Not street or club dancing but it's party songs! I love the electric slide and thriller."

"So basically you only dance already choreographed songs?"

She smiled and came closer. "Yeah. And I love the slow, romantic songs." She placed her hands around his neck and started humming softly.

He coughed nervously and took a step back. "Yes, well. Those are the only dances I do. The um, slow ones, not line dances."

"Hmm, okay. I'll save you a dance or too." She smiled brightly and went over to the dresser to pick up her earrings. "So, how should I do my hair? If I'm dancing, I'll want it up and off my neck but a ponytail is so...casual. Unless I use a hairclip, but my mom does that all the time."

"It's your hair, why do you care what other people think?"

"I don't. Well, not anymore than I can help. Um, I guess I'll start with it down and then, if needed, put a hairclip in." She put a hairclip in her purse and started for the door.

"Alright, let's go!"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

"No, what?"

Carlton raised an eyebrow and nodded towards her feet. "Shoes?"

"Psh, shoes are for squares."

"And safety. You don't want to get stepped on or step in something."

"*sigh* Yeah yeah. Give me a minute."


	17. Chapter 17

Hey everyone. I'm so sorry that it has been so long but there's been a lot of family problems going on, including a death. Plus, I had to write a speech for something called Chrysalis Journey(Decolores!) that took up any of my free time. I've kind of got a lull in the busyness, but it's gonna pick up again in a few weeks, so I decided to update this story. I don't really have much planned past ch20, but I'll try to post the next 2 chapters this month.

Alright, enough ramblings. Please enjoy and let me know what you think so I can try and figure out the 2nd half of the story!

* * *

CHAPTER 17

When they entered the restaurant, they found it pretty crowded. "Oh look! Two open seats at the bar!" Beth exclaimed before heading over. "And they have a list of the music time slots. Let's see: It stared at 6 with each genre or whatever gets about a half hour each. So first jitterbug and jazz followed by oldies and classics at 6:30. Then country, party dances, 'the slow down', and club dances. And it all repeats at 9 and 12."

"Good. Then it's not continuous club music. That stuff gives me a headache."

Beth laughed as she looked around. "Yeah. Come on, do the Charleston with me."

"I don't dance."

"Why not?" She pouted.

"I just don't." Carlton crossed his arms and shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine, whatever. I'm not good at those dances anyways. Should we eat first?"

"Sure." Carlton replied as he picked up a menu. "I kind of feel like a burger."

"We had burgers last night. You don't want to go into burger overload."

"Alright. How about chicken?"

She crinkled her nose at that. "What, are you going to get a greasy thigh or drumstick?"

"No. The chicken club looks good. With bacon and ranch."

"So basically a heart attack."

Carlton rubbed his forehead with a sigh. "Would it make you feel any better if I got it grilled instead of breaded?"

"A little. Are you getting fries with it?"

"Maybe..."

"How about coleslaw?"

Carlton sighed, "Fine. What are you getting?"

"Chicken parmesan sandwich and fries."

"Really? You just got on my back about what I'm getting yet you're getting something equally as bad."

Beth laughed and slapped his arm. "Oh Carl, I love getting on your back, both figuratively and literally. But this time, I'm just pulling your leg. I'm actually going to get a turkey club and side salad. Don't want to load up on too much food before dancing."

Carlton just shook his head in reply as he signaled for the bartender.

* * *

A little after 8, Carlton was nursing his second beer at the bar as Beth did the Cha-Cha slide with Shawn and a couple dozen other patrons. He could tell by their movements that about half of them were already drunk, a few to the point of almost falling over.

As Carlton was debating whether to have someone escort a few out, his view was suddenly blocked by a rather tall bombshell. She had beautiful brown curls, a little black dress that barely covered everything, and a very seductive smile as she stepped closer, a little too close.

"Hello handsome. Care to share a drink?"

"I already have one." Carlton replied as he held up his beer.

"But you haven't tried mine." She smiled at him before looking behind him.

"Here you go, two made-to-order drinks." The bartender said as he set two glasses down on the counter by Carlton's elbow.

"Thanks darling." She picked up both drinks, took a sip of one before holding the other one out for Carlton. "Come on, try it. It's my own special combination."

"No thank you." He pushed it away slightly.

"What? You don't trust me?"

"A complete stranger offering me an unknown drink? I'm not stupid."

"Never said you were. But how are you suppose to get to know someone if you don't trust them even a little bit. The bartender made the drink and I am such a fun person to get to know." She stepped even closer so he was trapped against the bar.

Carlton coughed nervously and tried to expand the few inches between them. "I-I, um, I'm sorry but I'm engaged."

"So that means there's still time to have fun with complete strangers."

"I'm not that type of guy."

"Just try it. I bet you'll like it." She placed the drink in his hand and moved closer to his right ear to whisper, "And I don't just mean the drink."

"Hey Carl!" Carlton jumped at Beth's voice and pushed the other women away. Beth gave the other women a calculating look before walking up between them and kissing Carlton. He was surprised by both the suddenness and ferocity of the kiss. Pulling back, Beth smiled nervously, "Did you miss me?"

"Y-yes."

"I missed you too! You really should join me out on the dance floor." She pouted slightly.

"I told you that I don't dance."

"Don't worry, I'll soon change that. Is this for me?" Beth asked as she grabbed the drink from him and took a big sip.

"Actually, this lady brought it over for me."

Beth finally turned to faced the other lady and said, "Well, the drink isn't too bad but you really shouldn't be hitting on other people's fiancés."

The lady laughed haughtily, "Honey, as long as there isn't a ring on the finger and vows taken, it's all fair game. Now, Carl was it? How would you like to be entertained by someone more mature than this little middle school-er."

Beth scoffed as she placed the drink on the counter. "Just because I don't hit on every guy I come across doesn't mean that I don't know how to...entertain one."

The lady smiled. "Honey, I'm not talking about monopoly. I would spell it out for you but your face just screams the v-word."

Having heard enough, Carlton said, "Alright, I think that it's time you left."

The lady shrugged as she stepped back. "Fine, you look like a drag anyways. There are plenty of men waiting for some action. See you around Carl." She smirked triumphantly before walking towards the other end of the bar.

"Grr! I hate people like that!" Beth said as she picked up the drink again and chugged it down.

"Take it easy." Carlton grabbed the near empty glass away from her.

"Hey! This is only my second drink of the night, so it's no big deal. Although, you should be glad that you didn't drink any."

Carlton glared. "And why is that?"

"Because there's mint in it. It's just barely noticeable over the apple and strawberry syrup."

"She tried to poison me?" Carlton asked as he looked around the bar, unable to find the lady.

"Relax, there is no possible way that she could have done it on purpose. What is this anyways? I don't think I've had this before." She picked up the drink and examined it.

"She said that it was her own combination."

"Hmm, it is good. I might have to get the recipe."

"You said that it has mint in it."

"So? I'm perfectly capable of drinking without you, especially in my own house and with Suz."

"Fine." Carlton shook his head and picked up his beer. "Just don't sneak attack me with a kiss after drinking it."

"Why?" Beth asked as she put the glass down and stepped closer. "You mean I'm allowed to kiss you without sneaking up on you?"

Carlton coughed nervously and leaned back slightly. "Th-that's not what I said and you know it! Now step back before I break out in hives or something."

She shrugged and stepped back. "Fine. Excuse me, bartender! Can I get a strawberry milkshake?"

"Yep. Just give me one minute."

"Thanks." Beth turned back to Carlton. "There you go, now I'll taste like strawberries instead of mint."

Carlton shook his head as he surveyed the bar, not seeing the lady anywhere.


	18. Chapter 18

Hey everyone! It's update time! YAY! Haha, sorry. So I noticed a slight timing error in the last chapter but I don't feel like fixing it. Hmm, I can't think of anything else that I should mention...

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 18

Beth drank about half her milkshake before standing. "Come on, you owe me a dance."

Carlton groaned as she pulled him up. "Just don't make me regret this."

"Dude, it's a slow song. The most that might happen is me stepping on your feet."

"Well, I like my feet exactly as they are: pain-free."

Beth giggled as she led him out onto the floor. It wasn't very crowded since most people where taking a break but Carlton kept their circle as small as possible.

By the start of the next song, Beth was leaning into him and about halfway through, she seemed to be putting most of her weight on him. "Carly," she whispered into his neck. "I don't feel so good."

"What's wrong?"

"My legs don't wanna move and my stomach hurts."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. My arms aren't working real well either."

"Okay. Let's sit you down for a bit."

She tried to move her legs but they just crumbled underneath her. Luckily Carlton still had his arms around her was able to keep her upright. "Why don't you let me do the walking?"

"Kay."

The walk to an empty table was slow with her providing little to no help. He felt his phone vibrate for a text but ignored it. Beth all but collapsed into the chair, which concerned Carlton greatly. "Hey, look at me."

She slowly lifted her head and opened her eyes half way, and they looked bloodshot.

"How much did you have to drink?"

"Just martini with dinner and whatevs you had."

"The beer?"

"Nope, drink rude lady gave ya."

"Crap. She must have put something in it." His phone started ringing and Carlton silently cursed as he answered, "Yeah?"

_"Carlton, is she alright?"_ Juliet asked.

"No, I think she's been drugged."

_"*gasp!* How did that happen?"_

"There was this tall brunet who was flirting with me. She offered me a drink but Beth ended up drinking it. Between the mint and drugs in it, I guess it was a good thing."

_"What does that lady look like? Is she still here?_"

Carlton looked around as he described her. "I don't see her. Although I doubt she would have stuck around after what happened."

_"Okay. Why don't you take Beth up to your room and Shawn and I will keep looking for this person."_

"Don't forget to check on the security cameras and interview the bartender."

_"Got it. Now go! Call me back in a little bit."_

"Right." Carlton closed his phone and looked back at Beth, who had her head on the table. "Come on, time to go upstairs." Beth moaned as he gently pulled her up and started walking. "Are you going to help me at all?" He commented as they left the bar and headed for the elevators.

"Tryin but me legs don't wanna."

"Fair enough." When they reached the elevators, he sat her down in a chair as they waited. She looked around with a frown. "Where are we?"

"Waiting for the elevator."

"Kay. But where?"

Carlton looked at her with concern. "At the hotel that we have been staying at the past couple of days. Don't you remember?"

She frowned again before nodding her head. "Right, case. Wake me when we get there."

Carlton slapped her face slightly. "Oh no, you need to stay awake until we can call a doctor since I assume you don't want to go to the hospital."

"No hospital." The elevator doors opened and Carlton decided just to pick her up bridle-style then having her try to walk again. She snuggled closer. "Hmm, this nice."

"Well, don't get used to it. And do not fall asleep on me!"

"Try." She mumbled into his neck.

They were almost to their door when she whispered, "Date rape."

Carlton stumbled slightly but managed to correct himself before they both ended up on the floor. "Excuse me? What was that?"

"Drug. Probably date rape drug. I think roofie-nal"

"Roofie-nal? Do you mean Rohypnol?"

"Yeah, probs."

Carlton quickly ran through the common symptoms of the drug as he pulled out the room key and opened the door. He placed her on the bed and took her pulse. "I think that's a good guess. You said that you're sleepy, stomach hurts, trouble moving limbs, confusion. Your pulse is a bit slow so you might have low blood pressure. Are you experiencing any dizziness, nausea, visual disturbances or problems seeing?"

"A lil bit."

"A little of what?"

"Everything."

"Okay. I still want a doctor to see you and we're going to need a urine sample."

Beth wrinkled her nose at that. "Do it later? Up to 72 hours for urine. Just wanna sleep now."

"No sleeping. Let's get a doctor first and if he says you can sleep, then you can go ahead."

"Fine. Call doc."

"Good." Carlton grabbed an empty garbage can before calling the front desk.

* * *

A half hour later, Beth was finally allowed to sleep. The doctor checked all her symptoms and agreed with their diagnosis. He had taken a blood sample and told Carlton to keep a close eye on her and, just like a concussion, she was to be awaken every hour for the next 7 hours. If she didn't wake up or started vomiting blood, he was to take her to the hospital.

Once he was sure she was asleep, Carlton retreated to the bathroom and kept the door open just in case as he called Juliet.

_"Hey Carlton, any news?"_

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

_"We weren't able to locate the lady you were talking about but we did find her on the security cameras. She entered the bar at 7:53, flirted around the room for about 10 minutes before going up to the bar, said something to the bartender, then made her way over to you. After she left you guys, she slowly made her way to the bathrooms and just disappeared. There's no footage of her leaving the restrooms."_

"What about before she entered the bar?"

_"She entered behind a group, which came from the lobby. So we don't know if she came from the front door or the elevators."_

"If you can get a clear picture of her, we'll circulate the photo among the staff tomorrow to see if anyone noticed her before."

_"We'll try. How is Beth?"_

Carlton sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It looks like she was drugged with Rohypnol in a drink."

_"Oh no! Is she okay?"_

"She's sleeping, for now. I had the hotel doctor called and he said that unless her symptoms get worse, she can just sleep it off."

_"Do you have the blood sample?"_

"Yes, it's in the fridge."

_"Okay. I'll call the chief and hopefully she can have someone come up to take it."_

"Yeah. I think I'll have her give a urine sample in the morning."

_"Sounds like a plan. I'm going to see if we can find out more. Let me know if anything else happens."_

"Got it." Going back into the main room, Carlton noted that he had about 25 minutes before he had to wake Beth up, so he sat down at the table and started writing his statement on what happened.


	19. Chapter 19

Hey! Updated 3 weeks in a row, yay! Although I probably just jinxed myself since this coming week is going to be super busy and the next chapter is only halfway done...

Enjoy!

* * *

CHAPTER 19

_Beth was on stage performing her favorite songs when she felt someone grab her from behind and pulled her flush against them. She could tell that it was a man even before they spoke._

_"Hey Bethie." He purred into her ear._

_"Fred." She gasped as the scenery changed to a forest. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I'm just here to remind you who you belong to."_

_"But I don't belong to you!"_

_"Of course you do. And there's nothing you can say that will ever make me let you go. Say goodbye to the good detective."_  
_Beth looked over to see Carlton beaten up and tied to a pole._

_"Help me." Carlton groaned._

_"Carlton!" She yelled just as a gun went off. A second later, a bullet tore through Carlton's stomach and he slumped over._

With a gasp, Beth sat up and quickly surveyed the empty room. "Carlton?!" She called a bit frantically.

There was a clatter before the bathroom door swung open and Shawn appeared with a toothbrush and container of bath salts. "What's wrong?"

Beth shook her head. "Nothing, just a bad dream. Where's Carlton?"

"Oh." Shawn set the items on the desk and shrugged. "He's with Juliet going over what happened last night and making plans for what's next."

"Okay." She took a deep breath and frowned. "Why were you in the bathroom? And did you really expect to fend someone off with my toothbrush and bath salts?"

"I was on the phone with Gus to fill him in. And I would have thrown the salts at their face to distract them, poked them in the eye with the toothbrush and then they would have slipped on the bath salts."

Beth laughed, "If you say so. By the way, where is your phone?"

Shawn frowned and patted his pockets. "Still in the bathroom. I'll be right back."

As he retreated back into the bathroom, Beth looked around for her purse, finally spotting it on the dresser. When she tried to get up, she found that her legs were shaky and sat back down.

"I'm telling you Gus!" Shawn said into his phone as he came back into the main room. "A ninja was trying to break into the room so I had to act fast. It's not my fault that in my haste to defend the dear lady, my phone fell into the sink with the metal soap dispenser. If you want to blame anyone, blame the resort for having metal soap dispensers."

Beth laughed as she interrupted, "Hey Shawn, can you bring me my purse. My legs don't seem to want to work this morning."

"Yeah sure. And the doc said last night that you will still have weakness in your limbs for the next few days."

"Well that sucks!" Beth took her purse from Shawn before frowning. "Wait, what doctor? I'm having trouble remembering what happened last night, and I don't recall a doctor."

"Gus, I'm gonna have to call you back. Yeah, 10 mins, 30 tops. Right. Bye. Okay, my dear Bethie."

Beth flinched. "Don't call me that!"

"Right, sorry. Anyways, can you tell me what you do remember?" He sat down on the floor in front of her.

"Um. I was on the dance floor with you and then I noticed a really obnoxious lady coming on to Carlton. Once she left, I managed to convince him to dance with me. After that, it's kind of a blur. I remember being lead to the lobby and I have the feeling of floating, but that's about it."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but that obnoxious lady spiked a drink intended for Lassie. You managed to intercept the drink that we suspect had the date-rape drug roxyphilydon in it. After realizing something was wrong, Lassie brought you back up here and called the house doctor. The doc agreed that you had symptoms of roxyphilydon and took a blood sample."

"Roxyphilydon? Do you mean Rohypnol?"

"I've heard it both ways."

Both rolled her eyes, "Of course you have. Did they catch her?"

"Nope. She seemed to have vanished. Jules and I spent all night checking the surveillance tapes and we could only track her for about 30 minutes before she disappeared."

"Well, what do we do now?"

"That's what Jules and Lassie are trying to figure out. As soon as they know, we'll know."

She sighed, "Okay, thanks. I think I'm gonna call Carlton and check in with him, if you don't mind."

"Okie Dokie! Just give me a hollar if you need anything."

"Will do."

As Shawn retreated back to the bathroom to resume his conversation with Gus, Beth pulled out her phone and dialed Carlton. She was worried that it was about to go to voicemail when he finally answered.

_"Hey, how are you feeling?"_

She laughed, "I don't know. Very weak, kind of like I just ran a marathon. My head hurts too. And there's also a bruise growing on my arm."

_"Yeah, sorry about that. One time when I was trying to wake you up, you rolled away from me and fell off the bed. You complained that your arm hurt but fell sleep as soon as you got back on the bed."_

"Oh, okay." She blushed slightly. "I'm still a bit tired."

_"Why don't you try to get more sleep then? O'Hara and I should be done in an hour or so and then I can get us breakfast."_

"Ugg, my stomach just did a flip at the mention of breakfast. I'll take a rain check. Maybe we can do lunch or dinner. What time is it anyways?"

_"Um, 6:53."_

"In the morning? Jeeze louise, why are you up so early?"

_"I think the better question would be did I ever go to sleep?"_

"Oh, sorry!" She blushed again.

_"It's okay. I got a few half hour naps in, that's more than O'Hara. I also have some coffee so I'm ready to go."_

"Then I will let you get back to work. You said that you will be done in an hour?"

_"Should be. I'll call you if we're not."_

"Okay. See ya."

_"Bye."_

Beth hung up with a sigh and leaned against the headboard. She still felt really weak but she also felt gross. With a sigh, she called out, "Shawn!"

Within a few seconds, the bathroom door opened and he popped his head out. "You rang?"

"Can you fill the bathtub with hot water? I want to take a bath."

"Are you sure? Are you strong enough? Shouldn't you wait for Lassie?"

"I'm not a fragile flower, I'll be fine." To prove her point, she stood up and slowly made her way to the closet, leaning on furniture the whole way.

* * *

Taking a bath and getting dressed while your legs are weak turned out to not be a good idea. She had picked out a dress since it would be easier to get on, but she was having trouble with the zipper on the back. With a sigh, she called out for Shawn.

Shawn opened the door an inch before he stopped and asked, "Are you decent?"

"Mostly. I just need you to zip me."

"Okay, here I come." Shawn covered his eyes and almost tripped on the bath mat.

"You can look. I have the dress on, I just can't coordinate my tired arms to zip it."

"Okay." Shawn came around the toilet where she was sitting. "Here you go."

"Thanks. Now help me into the other room."

"Okie dokie."

When they got to the bed, she laid down on it. "Ugg, this is so not fun! Why are there drugs that want to hurt me like that?"

"I don't know, that's a good question. Maybe you should write to your state congressman."

"Maybe." She sighed and looked at the clock. "I was really in there for an hour?"

"Yep, I was getting a bit and was wondering if I had to send some lifeguards in after you."

"Haha, thanks for your concern. Can you hand me my phone? Carly is supposed to be back any minute or call me."

"Aye, aye." He quickly handed the phone over and started to bounce on his heels. "So, are you up for eating anything? I have a pitcher of pineapple smoothie in the fridge."

"Why do you have a pitcher of smoothie?"

"Because I knew the resort wouldn't have any and I need my pineapple!"

"So you only brought one pitcher?"

"No, silly goose, I bought 2 gallons of it and have already gone through one! If we're here much longer, I might have to have Gus bring me up some."

"I think you have a problem."

"I do not!"

"And the first step is admitting that you have a problem." She smiled.

"But I don't have one!"

"Said the lair!"

"Are you challenging my word as a gentlemen!"

"I would if you were a gentlemen."

"This means war!" Shawn exclaimed as he grabbed 2 pillows, threw one at her before hitting her leg with the other.

"Hey! This isn't fair! I'm weak and almost completely defenseless!"

"All apart of my big plan!"

Beth tried to defend herself but was failing. She was save by Shawn's phone going off. "Saved by the bell." She laughed.

"Hey Jules! Yeah, I'll meet you as soon as Lassie gets here...He just left?... Five minutes ago?...Okay. I'll see ya soon." Closing his phone, he smiled, "They finished 5 minutes ago. I guess that's the end of our pillow fight."

"Good. You were wearing me out."

"So did you want some pineapple smoothie before I go?"

She shook her head good-naturedly. "Sure. But a small cup."

"You got it!"


End file.
